Behold Wrath Internal PREVIEW

PREVIEW!!
BEHOLD
WRATH
by
David D Reynolds
Church Hill
PUBLISHED BY:
Church Hill Books
Behold WRATH – Revelation Series Book One

Copyright 2021 by David D. Reynolds
Any similarities between these characters and anyone real are purely
coincidental, with the exception of those named in the Bible. Those are
real, or soon will be.
Behold WRATH 1
“Really, really enjoying this. And it is so appropriate at this time.”
“Very good spelling out what is coming. It appears that we are not far
off from this.
Thank you.”
“You're a good writer. I like your story; it even has recent events
blended into the story line. Good job and I hope it gets published. If
somebody does make a movie out of this, I for one, will go see it!”
“I must say while there are a lot … who make fairly liberal use of
scriptural reference and quotation, most don't flow as well as a story
component nor are they as well discussed. If your readership is of such a
mindset, I think you have a distinct edge; the story (stories, I suppose)
are well told and real-world -- people have those thoughts and
concerns and express them as you've written.”
“Thank you…! I believe your gift is from His Majesty on high!”
“Thank you for your efforts and keeping it clear.”
“Your writings are a wonderful reminder of how grateful I am for my

salvation!”
2 David ReynoldsDavid D Reynolds
Prologue
Nathan fidgeted in the auditorium seat. Next to him sat Cassie

Johnson, Cass, to her friends and family, but just the initials frequently
served. Nathan felt conspicuous to those around him, not because he
was a young black man sitting with a pretty white girl, no, no. That
would be too obvious. No, his sense of uncomfortable vulnerability
weighed on him from something far more complex with eternal
implications. How had he come to this? Because I’m a sucker.
CJ, Cass, had been relentless in “witnessing” to Nathan almost from
the start. This young church girl sank her hooks into him from the first
day they’d met in a Young Republicans meeting on campus and, he
being black, had felt a bit conspicuous then as well. He was…
concerned… about what folk might say if they saw him walking in to
such a meeting, though he agreed with the basic conservative tenets of
that party. It was not a popular position for a young black in Southern
California. It was not “woke,” in keeping with CRT, BLM, ANTIFA
or any of the other popular acronyms of the day, but then, Nathan was
never one to just go with the crowd. His resistance to peer pressure
also kept him out of gangs in his youth, so why would he comply and
join an organized gang as an adult? He can think for himself, thank
you.
It was Cassie’s first time attending as well and they sort of caught
each other’s eye and pegged one another as fellow awkward Newbs.
Somehow, Cass managed to prick his curiosity for the spiritual, with
talk about end times prophecy. Well, he was curious, so here they sat in
the auditorium of a nearby Junior College listening to a Prophecy
Conference speaker named Darren Woods. Nathan had to admit, it got
him thinking. What if this stuff were true?
The session was wrapping up and a couple people with mics were
on hand to take questions and a guy raised his hand. “Yeah, so, how
do we know when the end is? I mean, the Rapture, because I guess we
know the very end because Jesus coming down will be a giveaway.”
Behold WRATH 3
Several people laughed.

Darren said, “True that, but you’ve really hit on a great point. Jesus
castigated the Pharisees for being able to predict the weather by
looking at the signs, yet not know prophetic signs. Jesus commanded
his disciples to ‘watch therefore.’ Watch for what? If we are watching
for Jesus, what does that look like? Peter, James, John and Andrew
cornered Jesus on the Mount of Olives, it says in Mark 13, to ask the
same question, but it was Matthew who recorded the most thorough
account of Jesus’ response.
It was in Matthew 24. Before you go and try to harmonize Matthew,
Mark and Luke’s accounts, know this: Luke’s account is different.
How? When you go to Luke 21 you will notice Jesus is giving a public
accounting while in the temple. What Mark 13 and Matthew 24 and 25
records is an account later, after Luke’s public temple account. After
the temple version that Luke records, while the disciples left with Jesus
and were walking up on the Mount of Olives itself, they asked for
further clarification. That is key.”
“I guess I’d like to know, and it’s a loaded question, how do we
know there really is a Rapture? I mean, that word isn’t even in the
Bible,” the guy asked.
Darren said, “To that I like to respond, the word ‘Bible’ is not in
the Bible.” More chuckles. “No, I’m serious though. Many things we
tag a name to are not named per se in the English Bible. The word
Rapture is from the older Latin Bible. In the original Greek text the
word is ‘harpazo’ so how would you like to remember and say that
each time. That word is in the original Greek in a handful of places,
but most noticeably in Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. ‘Rapture’
is just the Latin variant that just sort of stuck. ‘Harpazo’ means, ‘to
catch up’ or ‘to snatch away’ or ‘to take.’ It is a concept all too familiar
with the Hebrews as part of the larger ancient wedding traditions.
“There are many stages to the wedding traditions, just as there are
in the western world. We meet, we date, there is the proposal, a ring,
planning, the wedding day, the honeymoon… All things according to
tradition though not set in stone. In Galilee, a young couple may know
each other and express interest to their fathers, or at least one will. The
Father will look into it, make arrangements. There is a ceremony, raise
your hand if this sounds familiar, where there is a contract, a covenant,
where the joining is formalized. The bridegroom drinks wine from the
cup and, if the bride agrees, she drinks too. I’m over-simplifying for
the sake of time.
“Anyway, at this time, unlike our western traditions, the bridegroom
and bride are officially married though not intimate, but they are
committed. There is a gift the bridegroom gives his bride until he
returns, just as Jesus gave his bride the Holy Spirit. Reread John 14
again sometime.
“Also unlike western modern culture, he does not go apartment or
home hunting. No, he goes and adds on to his father’s house with a
room addition. It is his father who must approve of the construction
and modifications and this may take about a year. At the time
construction is complete, the father tells his son, ‘Go take your bride.’
“I am, again, skipping some parts, but at the time of The Taking,
like the Rapture, the bridegroom with his best man and the rest of his
party leave to Take the bride. It is all in good fun and joy, frequently at
midnight, for a bit more fun, and this often large processional marches
through the streets, singing, shouting, blowing the shofar. The best
man might yell something as he approaches the bride’s residence like,
‘Behold the Groom!’
“Now this is important. The bridegroom’s party never gets all the
way to the bride’s parent’s residence. They may make it as far as the
gate outside, shouting and blowing the trumpet. He meets her partway.
She has made herself ready. Her bride’s maids, the virgins, are ready.
They have oil in their lamps and they have them lit. The gate is opened
and she goes through with her party and the two parties merge and
return to the father’s house for, get this, a week-long celebration. They
celebrate, not for a day, not for three-and-a-half, but for seven days. So
there is a week-long celebration and feasting. The door to the father’s
house is locked up during that seven days. No one in or out. At the
end of the week, the door is opened to the public and, though
everyone knows who the bride is, she is unveiled officially before the
public and there is the announcement, ‘Behold the Bride, the Wife!’
after which time comes the public Marriage Supper.
“Now does some of that sound familiar?”
Well, a bit of it did to Nathan, but then he was not all that well
versed in such things from the Bible and certainly not in this light.
Several people around him responded with excitement and some cried
with joy.
Woods then remarked, “This is why sometimes Jesus might make a
statement that to us seems enigmatic, and yet the disciples just sort of
accept it without question. So when Jesus says, ‘No one knows the day
or the hour, not the son or even the angels of Heaven, but the Father
only,’ the disciples don’t ask, ‘What does that mean? I’m confused.’
Because they know the traditions so they think, ‘Ah. This is like a
wedding. Jesus keeps likening the Kingdom to a wedding and he’s
Behold WRATH 5
doing it again.’ Make sense?”

Someone else shoots a hand up, a young lady this time. “So wait. I
get that you’re saying the week-long celebration is happening in
Heaven while the Tribulation is happening on earth?”
“Exactly. Again, note that as Jeremiah the prophet said of that day,
it is ‘the time of Jacob’s trouble.’ Now, class, who was Jacob?”
Nathan recalled and someone, actually several people shouted,
“Israel!”
Woods said, “Remember, when you read 1 Thessalonians chapters
four and five it is clear that Paul does not prep us for how to survive
or deal with the Tribulation wrath. He says the opposite. He says about
that time we need not concern ourselves. Really!? That would be an
absurd statement if we are going through it. Instead he uses several
statements contrasting ‘but they’ with ‘but we.’ We are children of
light, they are children of darkness.
“Look at another place where this is addressed. In Revelation 3:10
we have John taking down by dictation directly from Jesus. He says,
‘Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also
will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon
the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.’
So if this trial, or tribulation, is on the whole earth and it is to test
those who dwell on the earth, how can the church, the bride of Christ
be there? And what does Jesus mean when he says he will ‘keep you
from the hour of trial?’ We know that there are saints who come out of
the Tribulation and there are many who are martyred. Follow me here;
if Jesus is promising the church he will keep them from the hour of
trial, how do you get martyrs?”
Another shoots his hand up, waving frantically, “But if those saints
die by the forces of Antichrist, isn’t that his wrath and not God’s?”
Darren Woods said, “Two points I want to make here. One, the
source of wrath or trial here is not indicated. Jesus makes no
distinction. God is sovereign so, just as Satan had to ask for permission
to try Job, it remains the same to this day. Two, either way, as we see in
Revelation chapter six when the first Seals are opened, they are the
Four Horsemen and they, including Antichrist, are released by the
Lamb of God, so either way, it is the wrath of God. We see the same
thing in Ezekiel 38, that Gog is led by the nose to mete out God’s
wrath.
“Revelation 13 says that authority is given to The Beast to persecute
the saints on the earth at that time, and to overcome them in verse
seven. But what did Jesus say in the gospels? Remember what he said
in Matthew regarding the gates of Hell? Matthew 16:18 Jesus told Peter
about the church, ‘the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.’ Yet in
Revelation 13 during the tribulation, we see the gates of Hell prevail.
Either God is lying, or the church is not on the earth at that time.
There are saints who come to Christ during that time, saints just like
the saints in the Old Testament days, but they are not the church. The
Church and Bride of Christ are celebrating their wedding.”
Woods flipped a few pages in his Bible and scanned some verses.
“There is a famous chapter in the Bible that is noted for its defense of
the resurrection. That chapter is 1 Corinthians 15. Someone please tell
me what this part is about. Beginning verse fifty-one, what does this
mean?
51
‘Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but
we shall all be changed— 52 in a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound,
and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be
changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption,
and this mortal must put on immortality.’
“So again, when does that happen? That is a Rapture verse if ever
there was one. In Luke’s version of the Olivet Discourse he records
Jesus saying that day will be as in the days of Noah and of Lot. That is
often overlooked but what happened with Lot? Anyone?”
“Sodom and Gomorrah,” someone shouted out.
“Exactly. Remember how that went down? The Reader’s Digest
Condensed version, some of you don’t know what that magazine is,
but at any rate, the short version is that Abraham finds himself
entertaining some angels in Genesis eighteen. One of them was The
Angel of the Lord, or second person of the trinity before he came to
us as Jesus. Now Abe is concerned for Lot and family that they will be
destroyed. Abe cautiously asks, ‘Hey, if there are, say, fifty righteous,
would you spare the city?’ The Lord says he will spare the city for fifty.
Abraham keeps bringing the number down, all the way down, bit by
bit. Then Abraham said ‘Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak
but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?’ And the Lord
said, ‘I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.’
“Get the meaning of that? God said He would not pour out wrath
on Sodom if there were only just ten righteous. Now Christians are
only righteous because when the Father sees us, He sees only Christ’s
righteousness. Apart from Christ, we have no righteousness. At the
Rapture when all believers who carry the righteousness of Christ are
gone, then there are none righteous left. Boom! Wrath!
Behold WRATH 7
“Okay, as you know, that’s not the end of the story. All kinds of
evil is still going on, even as they are all in Sodom trying to get Lot and
his family out. Next day, Lot is still hanging out but doesn’t want to go
where he was told. He asks if he can go to a different town. In the next
chapter in verse twenty-two we the angel says to Lot, ‘Hurry, escape
there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there.’ Extraordinary!
See, the Lord Himself could not do anything until this man of faith,
albeit a weak one, was out of the way. Why? God is just! He will not
punish the just with the unjust. The just must be removed.
“Or, as in the days of Noah, Jesus said folks will be rolling through
life, business as usual, about their routines, then sudden destruction.
His words, not mine. That’s another way we know Jesus was not
talking about the Second Coming. I mean, we have lots of destruction
according to what Jesus says right there in Matthew 24. Nothing so
bad up until that time of great tribulation, and nothing worse to follow.
That’s not ‘sudden destruction.’ That is several years of horrors upon
the earth. Folks will not be marrying and giving in marriage, about the
daily routines by the time Jesus comes back down to the earth. That
conclusion will be during Armageddon. Folks will be hiding out and
cowering, at least those who are left. No, the days of Noah were men
and women mocking Noah, scoffing at his family and their fantasy of a
flood and an ark to get above it. Then, sudden destruction when the
rains came.
“Men and women, it’s about to rain. Do not wait till you feel that
first drop hit your nose. It may be too late.”
Nathan was left pondering those words. He didn’t know whether
they were true or not and for sure did not want to find out the hard
way that they were true. He sort of doubted it though, even if Cass and
this crowd did not.
One
…the hour of trial that is coming on the whole

world, to try those who dwell on the earth.
(Revelation 3:10b)
Sandy could not breathe. She lay pinned to the floor, naked and
alone in her bedroom. Fine motes of silt glittered before her in golden
stars as they fell. She coughed and scattered them in a nova of life-
giving air. A gasp introduced fire into her lungs and a spasm of more
coughs. She embraced the life-assuring pain aware that she was well
and truly awake, and woke in a different way than the recent popular
way. Woke to the fact that her world is now suddenly and forever
changed.
She could not yet put her finger upon in what ways yet. Somehow
things just felt different. Like when you walk outside and it just feels
wrong in some unidentifiable way and then you realize the animals are
still, no birds are singing and all the insects have gone quiet. Like that,
but not that, for she could not tell what was going on outside. This was
a sort of cognitive difference she would have to think about later.
Sandy was certain of a broken rib or two, or cracked at the least. So
why was this sense of eeriness weighing on her thoughts as much as
the physical pain? When first she came to, she thought someone had a
knee in her back. As the fog receded from her mind, she considered
her surroundings, the condition of her room, her state of undress and
Behold WRATH 9
the various parts of her body that screamed at her for remission.
Sandy became more aware of the world beyond the
walls. Someone's shouting. Alarmed, she was not sure whether she was
more frightful of her health, or her state of nakedness, if discovered by
well-intentioned men and perhaps children. She lamely snorted a little
laugh when she realized she had been thinking she should be quiet
as possible so those people would not discover a naked woman under
the rubble. Her little snort rewarded her with a well-deserved skewer to
her left side. The keen of pain she emitted elicited a shush from
someone a few feet away.
Odd thing was, she could not immediately recall why she had
neither robe nor towel, though she was still damp. Their house was
broken, she knew that much. Her house, she corrected. She winced,
this time not with physical pain but with the jarring memory that she
once shared this humble craftsman home with Danny, her husband
gone what seemed an eternity ago. At least the recall of this hateful
truth stabbed her in the heart only occasionally now. It used to jar her
a hundred times a day.
Sandy distracted her mind from the pain by concentrating on the
chain of events, seeing her pinned naked to the floor like a not-so-
elegant butterfly. Guaranteed, she will never again pick up that
hobby. Oh! The explosion! That was it. She had been showering after a
jog when a thundering crash shook the floor. It came from the front of
the house so she thought there must have been a terrible accident and
someone would need help. She had intended to dash into her room
and drag her jeans and a shirt on so she could check outside. She'd
made it no further than her bedroom doorway when a second
explosion threw her and the lights went out; or rather her lights went
out. Darn. I think I left the water running.
The spear of pain was abating, and her world softening into clarity.
Someone was digging and dragging debris around her. Her room
suddenly brightened with someone dragging something out of her
vision. With one ear pressed to the floor, she could not yet tell from
what direction the sound was coming. Not until she felt the cold draft
across her legs and backside. That figures.
“Over here!”
A woman's voice, thank God.
“Get me that moving blanket over there!” Then softly, “Careful
where you step.”
Sandy tried mightily to turn her head to see her rescuer, but was
denied. She felt the blanket mercifully drop over her. She could hear
them stepping around, careful to avoid misplaced weight to whatever
debris had Sandy buried.
“Can you hear me? Are you okay?” the woman asked. She sounded
older.
“Yeah. Ribs,” was all Sandy managed.
“Okay, well hang on. There's a chunk of wall across your back and
the rest is a doorway, so I think we can pry it up a bit and ease you
carefully backward so we can pick you up. We're going to go nice and
slow so's not to hurt your ribs too much if we can. Okay?”
Sandy nodded, and then realized she was being an idiot because the
nice lady probably couldn't see her head, so she responded, “Okay.
Thank you.” Literally, a great weight lifted off Sandy's shoulders while
hands around her ankles dragged her carefully backward through her
dislodged bedroom door. This made for a fresh hell of pain. Acrid
smoke forced its way into her nostrils to cause another coughing
spasm. At least three pair of hands carefully turned her and lifted her
up and away from her room.
The ceiling was partially gone, but the sky was blue and beautiful
through the wisps of smoke snaking upward. She felt safe through the
pain, warm through the pain, but aware she was shivering. She became
suddenly sleepy and recognized this as shock. She heard an ambulance
siren as she nodded off to the welcome inhalation of sweet, heaven-
sent air.
Sandy awoke again, this time to the sounds of distant screams and
the rhythmic beeps of medical equipment, but before she opened
her eyes she realized the ambulance was not moving. In addition, the
air was stale and redolent with antiseptics. She squinted against the
harsh lighting and recognized time had taken her way
beyond ambulance and now to a hospital room. She raised her head a
bit and saw she shared her room with another, but could not tell who
was beyond the drawn curtain.
The tube in her arm informed her saline was hydrating her and
probably medicating against pain. She reached and could feel binding
around her ribs. What the heck! She wondered if she slept through a
surgery. How long? Hours? Days? Looking at the dutifully vigilant
monitor next to her bed offered her no clues. If she were educated in
nursing, no doubt some reading or other on the display would offer a
clue how long she has been tethered to this machine.
That's right about when the gunfire began. It was the real deal and
not the too-loud-TV sort of gunfire, but the kind you can viscerally
Behold WRATH 11
feel in the air as the concussive rounds rattled the walls and windows.
If gunfire did not tell her enough, then the uptick of panic-screams in
the hallway confirmed reality. So bizarre and out-of-context did this
seem that she questioned whether a post-surgical, drug-induced illusion
made some TV cop show seem real. She had no prior experience with
which to compare.
The shooting did not abate and the panic-screams increased. Sandy
became alert enough to realize she was in very real danger. She
grabbed the bed rail, prepared for the same shaft of pain as before, but
was pleasantly surprised to feel not more than a muted ache. Wow.
Good stuff! Must be morphine. She knew if she were not cautious, she
could damage herself greatly, pain or not. It would be all she needed to
fall to the floor gurgling on blood from an errant rib gouged into her
lung. She must risk the rib into her lung, or a bullet. Neither prospect
was a preferred road to post-surgical recovery.
Before she hardly recognized the fact, her bare feet were already on
the floor. Again, a draft of air hit her backside. I can't keep my rear end
covered these days. She grabbed the rolling hat rack thingy of fluids and
shuffled toward what she hoped as heck was the bathroom door and
not the door to the hall. No light beneath told her Door Number One
must be the correct choice, and it was. She flicked on the light and
found a blessed, backside-covering robe on a hook. There is a God!
Outside, the shooter continued close enough she heard him
punctuating his nonsensical screams with gunshots.
“It's too late!” Bang!
“You all don't get it!” Bang!
“It's all too late!” Bang!
“We're done here!” Bang!
“They're all gone, and we are done!” Bang!
The last shot emitted a Pock! as it punched a ragged hole in the wall
above her head. How many magazines does this guy have? Sandy slid
to the floor. All the rounds sounded like they were hitting hard targets,
which she took as a good sign. Either he didn't intend to hit anyone...
yet... or he was a terrible shot. Sandy shook, whether from the cold
floor or panic-shock. She heard more voices shouting, either security
or police, yelling for the shooter to get down, drop the weapon, all at
once. Then more shooting, followed by screaming only. At least the
shooting stopped. Only then did Sandy realize she had her ears in a
vice grip between both hands, pressing till her ears burned and wrists
ached.
Sandy let her arms drop, and she flexed her fingers to regain blood
flow. She then heard someone enter through the door of her room, or
maybe her roommate was opening the door. She didn't know, but she
decided it was time to ease up and out to regain her bearings. What
manner of day had befallen her? After her harrowing experience
years ago, she had clung to dull and boring normal as a babe to
mother’s milk. She desired it still. The past however many hours
remained a hopscotch of consciousness and all of it mystery. She
swung the bathroom door open and yelped, surprised by the nurse
standing there about to check the bathroom.
Alicia was the name on the badge but no last name for privacy
reasons, it is assumed. “Oh! I'm sorry,” Alicia said. “I was checking
rooms to make sure everyone was okay, and when I saw your empty
bed...”
“I'm fine, I think. What is happening out there? What's going on?”
“Man, that was scary! Some guy with a gun I'm not too sure how he
got it in here or why. Someone said they thought he was a cop. Didn't
hit anyone, thank God. He seemed like he wanted to shoot himself but
couldn't manage.” Alicia was shaken. She collected herself and
managed, “I'm sorry. I shouldn't be saying anything, probably.”
“I heard all the shooting afterward, so I assume they got him.”
“Yeah, it's a mess so please return to your bed. Someone will be
around to...”
“Suicide by cop? Was he distraught because someone died or
something?”
The look frozen on Alicia's face said nothing more than indecision,
but the eyes... Her eyes were haunted? Not quite. More like confused
or bewildered. Like she had not yet herself processed events. It wasn't
really that Alicia didn't know. Sandy decided Alicia knew, but did not
know how to frame her words. Doubt was what Sandy saw in Alicia's
eyes, colored with confusion. Sandy thought that odd, because you
either know what you saw or did not.
“Please,” in practiced professional tones, “Return to your bed
before you hurt yourself. I am sure someone will release some kind of
statement soon, okay?”
It was not okay, but when Sandy nodded and moved as though to
be the good little compliant patient, Alicia hurriedly ducked out the
door. Sandy diverted to the hall door for a peek. What she found out
there was mayhem. Not the funny insurance character, but the brutal
kind. Blood, a police photographer, and stunned, tearful faces on
patients and medical staff. Civilians shuffled about, were sitting on the
Behold WRATH 13
floor. Shockproof nurses hurried about on various tasks. A gurney

with a sheet over the shooter had a young kid, probably still a teen,
conveying it toward an elevator. Two nurses at the counter were going
over clipboards. As one ran down a list of room numbers, the other
was reading off her own list, “Present. Present. Missing. Present.
Missing. Present....”
Odd. Missing? She was not seeing any more bodies carried out,
and no one moves that fast. It struck Sandy this was what the shooter
had said too. They're all gone. Who? Missing? This guy was truly
messed up. Wasn’t he?
A woman in a room across the hall ranted in hysterics, but
Sandy couldn't make much out until Alicia opened the door to back
out. Two women were in an embrace next to an empty bed and one
was sobbing, “We should have listened!” She drew out long for
emphasis. “I was right there when he went. It was
the rapture! The rapture and we didn't listen!”
As Nurse Alicia eased the door closed, the other lady was saying,
“Honey, that can't be! Look, no clothes or nothing left in the bed like
they say. See? Did you see him leave?” The door closed.
Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep,

but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye…
(1 Corinthians 15:52)
Sandy’s next thought concerned Cassie, now away at college. Sandy

never had children of her own and, as her longtime sitter, she fell into
the depths of love with the little girl Cassie and it continued to this
very day as if she were her own daughter. But she was more than that
because, not really her parent, Sandy was free to be friends with Cass
as a mature adult. Adult or not, Cass was very much spiritually
inclined, went to church, read her Bible and could be very challenging
and still precocious.
Sandy let her mind settle on one of her favorite memories one day
in her kitchen. Her hand had shook a little when she pulled the carafe
from the coffee maker. Cassie sat at the small dining table in the
kitchen. “Maybe you shouldn’t drink any more. Maybe you had
enough,” she suggested to Sandy.
“I haven’t had even one sip yet. What’s a five-year-old know about
coffee anyway?” Sandy reached for the sugar then thought better of it.
Cassie’s advice was sound enough, but Sandy wasn’t about to go for a
more calming adult beverage while babysitting. Coffee would have to
suffice as a comfort drink.
The sort of banter Sandy and Cassie engaged in frequently was
grounding. The playful dialog provided an anchoring retreat. Humor
was their common refuge in time of trouble. From the time they first
met, Sandy and Cassie sensed the troublesomeness in one another, if
there is such a word. Sandy didn’t know whether Cassie heard talk of
the loss of Danny. She probably had. Sandy could tell a secret hid
behind those too-wise eyes and she was concerned about the
implications of Cassie's guardedness. So to lighten the mood, the two
Behold WRATH 15
would parry with humor as their weapon of choice, not so much

against each other, as together, against the ever-present oppressive
enemy. They never named their common enemy. To name the enemy
was to conjure it. To conjure it would be to face fears they were
reluctant to battle.
So the girls, vastly different in age, parried their fears with the
weapon of wit.
“Mom says coffee makes her nervous as a little Chihuahua. Daddy
says if you drink too much coffee it’ll turn your knees black.”
Sandy turned her legs out from under the table and tugged her skirt
just above her knees. “Look at my knees. Do they look black to you?”
“He also says coffee will stunt your growth.”
“That’s smoking.”
Cassie crossed her small arms and squinted at Sandy with suspicion.
“Are you sure?”
“Positive,” Sandy said.
“Good thing my Grandpa smokes then because he’s like six-foot-
four.”
“You are absolutely right. He would’ve been huge.”
“Titanic! Like, he would have to have a special door just to get in
the house.”
“Or even a special house.”
“Yeah, and his bed would be hu-normous!”
“Is that a real word?”
“Why not? Maybe there should be.”
Sandy smiled, “Why not.”
Sandy always wanted a little girl of her own. With Danny gone, her
optimism that a child was in her future waned. True, women in their
thirties and even forties bore children regularly these days, though such
births fell under the classification of High Risk. First, Sandy would
have to meet the right man. She refused to consider a clinical solution.
This idea struck her as too impersonal. Sandy had once joked to her
sister she considered the idea as vile. Her sister didn’t get the joke. Her
sister. No telling where she was these days.
Sandy wasn’t optimistic she would ever again meet the right man.
She’d already met Mr. Right, dated him and married him. Then Sandy's
bright future went from sunshine and roses to black hell with Danny's
premature death.
Sandy lived in a free-fall of denial as a widow of less than two years
before Cassie entered her life. No way would she have permitted
herself to consider considering anything else. The pain and anger
flowed without restraint in her veins approximating a sensation of

barbed wire and ground glass.
Well-meaning friends had frequently challenged Sandy. How long
would she give herself over to grief? What amount of time should pass
before it was time to “move on.” This much-insufferable phrase she
hated beyond any other sentiment. ‘Don't you think it is time to move
on, Sandy?’ ‘Sandy, I think it's time you move on.’
The phrase reminded Sandy of all those schlock-y television dramas
where there is a tragic accident and the cop urges the crowd to move
along. There's nothing to see here.
Sandy could not, for the longest time. Until Cassie helped her
through, this seemed like it would remain forever her tragedy. Danny’s
memory was her love, her reason for life as certain as if his death
occurred mere days ago. The very idea of moving on away from
Danny's memory never failed to raise a lump in her throat. The barbs
and glass in her veins threatened to clog her heart, until a few short
months of Cassie therapy.
Sandy's sister had introduced her to the Johnson family and the
balm that was Cassie began to work magic. Cassie – The magic for the
tragic. The radiant force for Sandy was a combination of Cassie’s
smiles, insights and humor. Cassie Johnson gradually began to fill a
need for love in Sandy that otherwise could not be easily satisfied even
while the adults around Sandy tiptoed. Her grief was eggshells for the
grown-ups in her life. Little CJ, on the other hand, steamrolled right
over Sandy’s grief and pressed joy from every moment they were
together.
Away to college was one thing. If she has lost Cass to The
Rapture… She immediately loathed herself for not sharing the joy Cass
must enjoy and for not listening and taking serious the things Cass
repeatedly told her about Jesus. Sandy had to know about Cassie with
intensity. She could easily be hurt somewhere buried under rubble just
as she herself had been.
Within her hospital room before the wall-mounted television with

the sound down so as not to disturb her sleeping roommate, Sandy
settled on a channel with images that recalled to her memories of 9-11.
Visions of burning and smoldering rubble on the ground in Los
Angeles, an hour south of her here in Ventura. Shiny metal, a wing
portion, luggage and debris carefully and artfully portrayed on the
screen. A reporter asked a bloodied man how he felt while she ignored
his words. The camera cut to the studio where they played a grisly
Behold WRATH 17
montage of smashed buses, trucks and vehicles, and the more horrific
the better for the news media. There were cars and trucks plowed into
homes, storefronts, office buildings, hanging off bridges... Even a
child's bicycle was shown in a street where cars navigated around.
Sandy could only stare, her mouth hanging lamely agape. Then it
occurred to her she should look out her own window. Sure enough,
plumes of smoke dotted the horizon even here, two or three floors up.
She returned to the TV and noticed the date and time. She'd been in
the hospital overnight. Over half a day. She tried another channel.
A reporter was interviewing a man in a supermarket. He was
saying, “No, no, it wasn't like that at all! I know what people say, but it
wasn't like that. They didn't just vanish out of their clothes like some
rapture or something happened. They changed. They started glowing
like bright white and then went up, up and right through the roof! No
holes! More like a ghost vanishing up through the roof. I think it was
UFO's got 'em.”
What?
The reporter asked, “UFO's?” Then with a raised eyebrow to the
camera, “What do you think of that, Bill? UFO's?”
Cut to Bill in the studio chuckling nervously, “Thanks Mike. We
shall see as the news continues to unfold; but first we are long overdue
for a commercial break. Don't go away...”
Sandy went away. On another channel, a lady reporter was chasing a
famous preacher... what's his name? She recognized the white teeth
but could not recall the name. “So then if it wasn't the rapture like
some are saying, what do you think happened to all those people?”
The preacher, not smiling now, turned in frustration to the reporter
before climbing into his car. “I really couldn't tell you. Let's pray for
their families. All I know is it can't be a rapture because I'm still here.
Right?” He nodded confidently before sliding into his car.
This reporter-ette beamed to the camera, “So there you have it. No
rapture. But what sucked those people up into the sky, we don't know.
Judy, back to you.”
Judy in the studio cautioned the audience about some shocking
footage and urged parents they may want to remove kids from the
room. At first Sandy thought there would follow a gory display.
Instead, what followed was a vertical cell video at an early morning
soccer practice where at varying distances three different people
stopped what they were doing and were alternately looking around and
up at something, they quickly glowed, then began ascending. Was this a
trick? Some elaborate hoax? Some cell phone app? Sandy shook her
head as she considered the manpower and skill to pull off something
of this scope. No clothes, watches, and glasses left lying around. Were
these people taken away by UFO's? And for what? Experimentation?
It sure didn’t look like the rapture portrayed in sermons and movies.
She flipped the channel.
Three talking heads in a studio. Said one, “There is no such thing as
a Secret Rapture!”
The moderator in the middle turned to the other guest who replied,
“Well, I agree. There's certainly nothing secret at all about what just
happened, especially when foretold. It’s funny some mock a so-called
secret rapture yet have no trouble with a secret Second Coming.”
Then the first guy said, “The word 'Rapture' is not even in the
Bible.”
Then the retort, “The word 'Bible' is not in the Bible. Lots of things
that are true are not named in the English Bible. The United States is
not in the Bible, yet here we are.”
Flip
A woman at a podium in front of a building. “No, at this time, we
do not anticipate a need for any rationing. We ask the pubic to please
not engage in hording. There is plenty of everything to go around.
Hording will only serve to create shortages. Shelves are stocked with
plenty of water and please, don't buy up all the toilet paper again.
Though, until we know further what happened and the potential for
contamination, the governor is discussing mandatory masks…”
Flip
Two distraught people on the street before a reporter. “Yeah, we
had the kids right here at the park. My girl Juney here had her two kids
and I had my baby girl, Christaline. I was sipping from my water and
next thing I know, they started all glowing and go right up and up! I
called and called but they did not hear me. Juney was freaking out
screaming,” to Juney, “Weren't you, sugar.”
Juney emphatically, “That's right.”
“And now every day,” Christaline's mom cried, “We gonna come
back here and ask dear Lord Jesus to give our babies back 'cause we
miss them.” She turned and cried on Juney's shoulder.
Sandy switched the TV off. She wondered about her departed
husband's family first, for she had no living family of her own, except
her estranged sister who was God-knows-where. They hadn't spoken
in years. She had Cassie, whom she considered family, but she had not
really seen her for at least four months. Where's my cell?
Wheeling her IV cocktail to her bed, she checked the
Behold WRATH 19
nightstand. Ugh! I have nothing, Sandy recalled, for she had arrived
naked, wrapped in a blanket. This begged the question of what she
should wear when she checked out. She could not very well leave in a
hospital gown or steal their robe. She could call Cassie's mom, Ellie.
Her name was really Giselle, but she hated her real name and would no
doubt stab you through the heart if you called her that. Sandy had to
think hard. The downside to this age of cell phones is it's too easy to
keep your brain in one. She struggled to recall the number, and she was
sure the Johnsons no longer had a landline, so she couldn't call 411.
Then she got an idea. Wonder if Roomie has a cell. She cautiously
strolled over. She carefully moved aside the curtain edge near Roomie's
nightstand. Better! She had a pad. Sandy carefully lifted it, pulled it to
herself, and carried it back to her own bed. Don't be locked. Don't be
locked, she prayed. Unbelievable. It was not locked. However,
considering Roomie's advanced age, Sandy realized she should not be
too surprised at this. The older the person, the less techie they tended
to be.
She selected the Facebook icon, whereupon it dutifully opened for
her. She tapped into the Search window for Ellie Johnson. There it
was! There were a few, but only one had the faces of the Johnson kids,
all now grown. She silently prayed the Wi-Fi would carry in the
bathroom as she hurried there. She also hoped Ellie had the phone
option activated on her end. Ensconced in the bathroom's quiet, she
found it looked active, so she pressed the link.
It did not take long for a somewhat puzzled and inquisitive Ellie to
answer. “Hello?”
“Ellie, it's me. Sandy.”
“Sandy. I'm waiting for Cassie to call me back, so when my phone
rang, and it was a Messenger call, I figured maybe her cell service was
down or something. Are you okay?”
“Well, that's why I called. I'm better, but my house fell on me. I
busted a couple of ribs pretty good.”
“Oh my gosh! Are you gonna be okay? Where are you now?”
“I'm still in the hospital, but look. I was in the shower when it
happened. Or at least I had just jumped out when I heard a crash.
They wrapped me in blankets and brought me here. I don't have a car,
my phone, or a stitch of clothing.”
“How awful. Look, hon, shoot me the address and room number.
I'll grab you something of mine to wear... You are more than welcome
to stay here until your house situation is sorted out. You can stay in
Cassie's room. Even if she comes home and needs it, the bed's a Full
and it would be a girl party for her. You know how Cassie is.”
Sandy swallowed the lump in her throat. You never quite realize
how alone and destitute you could be until you realize how alone you
are not.
“That's so sweet. Thank you! No rush. I'm sure I have papers to
sign. I'll send you the info, but call on the room phone through the
hospital because this phone is, uh, borrowed. Let me know when you
hear from Cass.”
“Sure will, sweetie. See you soon.”
Sandy found the room number on the bedside phone and Messaged
it along. She considered whom else she might call and check on, but
immediately succumbed to the wave of guilt for having borrowed from
Roomie without permission. That was intrusion enough at this point.
She was able to justify the act due to the emergency, but still felt bad.
She set the pad down and went to the mirror for the first time to
appraise the damage. She was actually pretty surprised she did not look
more beat up. Her mid-length brown hair still looked mousy to her,
but it was not matted in filth. That was a plus.
Though her eyes were in the early stages of carrying bags
underneath, that wasn't a result of the accident. Now in her thirties,
she long ago resigned herself to this outcome. She thought she maybe
had the beginning of some bruising on the side of her face, but a little
water and rubbing with her fingers eliminated that.
Demonstrating ninja-like skills, Sandy replaced Roomie's pad and
tied the belt on her robe before rolling her IV rack out the door to find
a nurse to help with release papers. The nurses she met in the hallway
were all moving at a frantic clip and Sandy did not wish to interrupt
their ministrations for other patients. She knew there must be a clerk
or administration office or something nearby, which was where she
would need help anyway. She stood at a hallway crossroads and
surveyed the various signs and arrows. She headed down a hall that
looked the most promising.
Signage directed her to make a left, so she turned and encountered
double doors that were locked. One of the waypoint signs indicated
Maternity Ward. She was scanning the signs for another way to get
around to the office she thought she needed when a uniformed officer
walked out the doors. His badge said, Salazar.
“Excuse me,” Sandy stopped him. “The office I need to get to is
down that way. Can I go through?”
The young officer winced. “Uh, at this time that area is still a crime
scene. I'm afraid you'll have to ask a nurse or someone here to get you
Behold WRATH 21
what you need. Sorry.”

“Wow. Crime scene? What happened?” She figured he wouldn't say,
but why not. A second shooter was hard to fathom. “Someone steal a
baby or something?” she tried to be jovial.
Officer Salazar looked at her in a funny strange kind of way. “I'm
sorry ma'am, who are you?”
Uh oh. “Sandy Carpenter. Look, up until a few minutes ago I was
out. See, I'm tethered to this thing, not able to get around anywhere, let
alone carry a baby away. I was sort of kidding. That's awful. I mean,
really?”
Officer Salazar seemed to reconsider her as a suspect. One of these
days her curiosity and big mouth were going to get her in real trouble.
He looked around, “You didn't hear this from me, but it was more
than one. And the security footage is some scary...” he checked
himself. “It is some scary stuff. I don't know if you pray, but you
should start. Take care, ma'am.”
She watched his back as he went around the corner. The guy would
have to be seriously rattled to breach protocol like that. She started
piecing what the lady across the hall said with what Officer Salazar
said, plus the TV, and she began to most seriously freak the heck out.
“…but the dead in Christ shall rise first.” (1

Corinthians 15)
“Even the babies? Now that I think about it, I'm not seeing too
many little kids either,” Ellie scanned while driving.
“For of such is the kingdom of Heaven,” Sandy said. Sandy stared
at the smoke plumes and yellow tape. It was hard to miss the people
on the street looking haunted and bewildered. Some sat on curbs or
leaned against cars, commiserating and crying.
Ellie glanced over at Sandy. “It's like this all over the place. People
trying to deal with The Vanishing, some are calling it. At least if there
were bodies, you might wrap your mind around the scope of it all.
Without a body, how do you mourn? You can't be sure they are gone.”
“No bodies at all?”
“Well, there are. I mean passengers, people hit by cars or debris.
Thirteen jets counted so far and they are still counting small craft,
helicopters... Or course, that’s just in the U.S.”
“What in the world?” Sandy marveled. “As you know, I have been
in a Twilight Zone situation once before, but this... Do you really think
it was UFO's like some say?”
Ellie fixed Sandy with a look and shrugged, “You know as much as
I do. Some poor kid is in trouble with the Navy because he came off a
submarine and leaked about how some people were glowing first, then
floated up through the bulkhead into God knows where.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“You think Cassie's okay?”
“I know what you're thinking. Don't even go there. Look, even if it
were the Rapture, it's a good thing for her, right? It means she's in
heaven and what could be better?”
Sandy so dearly loved Cass, though she did not share her level of
Behold WRATH 23
devotion and faith. She believed in God and all. She knew she saw
what she saw in the past and came to realize angels had to be real. Not
the cute little cherubs and not the girly ones in frilly dresses.
Sometimes she thought what she saw years ago was a weird dream, or
maybe hallucinations brought on by burning chemicals or oxygen
deprivation. She considered perhaps she saw regular men, but she was
imprinting angel status on them in her hallucinations. In reality,
can people who don't even go to church see angels? Even once in a
lifetime? Probably not. Sandy figured it was one of those things she
shouldn't admit, if she ever wanted to keep living on the daylight side
of barred windows.
What she had been delivered from was way off the grid of any
norm, and she remembered reading an account with Cassie in one of
those books from the library. It was about missionaries in front of
headhunters who had angels behind them, and they didn't even know
it until years later. Much later the missionaries asked the head hunters
why they did not kill them when they met them. Said headhunters were
confused and surprised the missionaries would even ask. The
headhunters told them when they met the missionaries, there was an
army of big men behind them, and so the natives dared not attack.
True story? Who knows.
Strange doesn't describe the incident by half. Sandy had not thought
of this in some time. She kept suppressing those horrific memories.
While Cass was missing was not the time to trip down nightmare
memory lane. Recent paranormal-ish claims brought it all to the fore of
Sandy's memory, of course. That she would have plenty of company in
lock-up was a comfort. Not everyone appreciated her gallows humor,
but it was her way of dealing.
Instead she said, “And if it is UFO's?”
Ellie made a strange sound in her throat. “I don't know if I can
believe in those even if the military is disclosing more and more.
Something weird is happening. I spoke to both Eddie and Mark.”
Eddie and Mark were Cassie's older brothers. Both were now grown
with families of their own. Ellie shrugged, “I don't know.
They're okay, but also concerned about Cass and what this all means.
Like I said, if Cassie's gone, it's good, right? At least she isn't dead.
What I can't deal with is, I guess... You know, the idea none of us
are worthy to take away from here, if it was Rapture. Bob and I tried to
raise the kids right and even made sure they got to church during the
big important holidays. We said our bedtime prayers, kept a good
children's bible with lots of nice pictures in the house so they would be
interested. We know it's important, so we read to them from it
sometimes, but maybe not enough.

“Cass, on the other hand, you know, she could be a little peculiar.
She's a good kid. With all the weird stuff that happened a few years
ago, would it be so strange if visiting aliens might want to check her
out?” She glanced over intently. “Not even maybe for anything other
than to see why she's so special. I ask myself, is that so hard to believe?
But it is.”
As if on impulse, she hit the power button on the radio as they
continued to wind along secondary streets toward the Johnson
home. Muskrat Love by the Captain and Tennille was playing on her
oldies station. Ellie must have preferred talk, for she selected another
station.
“...is the choice for you in Simi Valley for all your softest bedding
needs. Okay, we've been talking to Joseph Warden, a nationally
recognized expert in ufology and aerial phenomenon. Thank you for
staying over the break with us for another segment.”
“My pleasure.”
I'll bet, thought Sandy. Each passing minute is probably another
dozen books sold.
“Now, you were saying it's not so surprising craft of some
kind were not spotted all over the place, but, more and more
anonymous reports are coming in from people all over the globe
saying they definitely saw extremely large craft in some locations.
Larger than a football field. Could something like that pull people up
from great distances?”
“With something of this scope, anything is possible,” Warden said.
“I mean, what level of technology allows solid objects, living people, to
pass through ceilings and multiple floors in buildings, concrete and
metal? The real question is, will we hear from these mother ships? Are
they going to let us in on why they took the ones they did and what
they plan to do with them?”
The talk show host made a shuddering sound, as though chilled by
the possibilities before speaking.
“I remember that old Twilight Zone episode 'To Serve Man.' Not
that I want to alarm anyone. I have a couple folks missing too. But I'm
only putting it out there to give voice to what we've all thought about
but afraid to say!”
“No no. Nothing like that, I'm sure. Most of the stories I have
encountered from other abductees is a great sense of benevolence. The
ufology community is pretty close knit. I've been in touch with a few
of them over the last few hours. Based on what we have learned from
Behold WRATH 25
past encounters, we have a strong working theory about all this...”

“Terrific news, Joseph! I'm sure we're all eager to hear it! First we
need to pay for all this with a quick commercial break. Don't go away,
folks!”
In unison, Ellie and Sandy yelled at the radio.
“Oh, come on!”
“You have got to me kidding me!”
Ellie turned the commercial down a couple notches. “We'll see what
this guy says. My vote is he's a crackpot.” They pulled up to the
Johnson house, and she shut the car off, leaving the radio on. “We get
his story, and then go check the latest on cable. Probably fewer
crackpots on Fox than MSNBC.”
“Yeah, what was the Twilight Zone episode he mentioned? What
was that all about?” Sandy asked.
“You're kidding. You've never seen it?” Ellie became animated and
Sandy turned to her when she continued, “It was like he said. To Serve
Man. See, these aliens came, and everyone thought they were there to
help. They were going to heal the world, kum-by-ya and bring world
peace. Some guy...” Then Ellie recalled, “or maybe it was a woman. I
don't remember. It's been a long time. Anyway, someone steals this
book from inside one of their ships or something and it is titled 'To
Serve Man.' Anyway, at the end someone finally translates it and it
turns out to be a cook book. Get it? To Serve Man?”
“Oh, that's sick!” said Sandy.
“Right?”
Bumper music came on, signaling it is time to return to the show.
“Okay! Welcome back! Welcome to the Bill Blye Show. If you're
just now joining us, we've been talking to our guest, UFO expert... I'm
sorry... Ufologist... Joseph Warden. Joseph has been in contact with
other experts in his field and before our break, Joseph, you were about
to tell us your theory and what this is all about.”
“That's right. See, we catalog and interview abductees,
anonymously, all the time. From conversations or things the aliens say
to them, we believe we know what is going on. We all know our planet
is in distress. Climate change, wars, deadly viruses, radical religious
groups... It seems like no matter what we try to do to correct these
things, these radical zealot groups come in with their extremist ideas
and halt real progress. We believe... Well, let's face it, we have known
for years we were being watched, visited, tested. Even the military is
finally admitting it.
“The long and short of it is we think these benevolent beings are on
a mission to heal us. Probably to bring us in to their intergalactic

collective, but they can't until we get it together. They've been
watching us for decades now, waiting for progress. There have been
stories of ancient aliens popping in every once in a while to check up
on us. Then we hit the 20th century, then the 21st, and we are
getting worse! Our own planet is attacking us with viruses.
“For all we know, these aliens could be our creators. They probably
seeded our earth, and we are failing. Some things, not everything, not
all of us, but some things, some people, do need a bit of
enlightenment. A bit of re-education, if you will. If they can just
understand we are all from the same family and really of a galactic
faith, we could all live harmoniously. After all, we all know, at the root
of all this violence and all these wars is religion. That's a fact.”
“Wow!” Bill Blye said, “What do you think of that, folks? Our
loved ones may simply undergo a bit of specialized training. They're
probably learning some things we can only dream of! They are to be
envied! So you think we will get them back soon?”
“I've little doubt of it, those who can adjust anyway. Some may be a
little harder and take a little longer to see the truth, but I think they'll
all be back wiser than before. Perhaps even wiser and more
knowledgeable than Einstein. They may even come back to us
imparted with extra abilities to help the rest of us!”
“Wouldn't that be something? Your calls when we get back!”
Ellie removed her keys and opened her car door and got out. Sandy
followed, saying, “Man, that was hard to swallow, right?”
“Before yesterday, I would have agreed. Today I'm not so quick to
dismiss anything.” Ellie added, “Nothing is as we thought it was. We
no longer know what we think we knew, and this is the New Normal.
Let's see what they're saying on the TV.”
●
Ellie came from the kitchen with iced tea and sat next to Sandy on
the sofa before the TV. She glanced at Sandy and asked, “What'd I
miss?”
“Emergency sessions in pretty much every government in the
world. It's worse than I thought. I forgot about the ramifications of
key government people among The Vanished. The Secretary of State is
missing, several congresspersons and senators. Also four governors are
among those missing. Then there's various local government people
Behold WRATH 27
missing; mayors, councilmen, state senators... You name it. Don't even
ask about foreign nations the various military branches.”
“Oh, I hadn't thought of that,” Ellie remarked.
“Well, you better. We all better.”
“Why, what's going on?”
Sandy gestured to the flames and rolling armies on the television.
“There are troop movements all over the world. Various coups taking
place, opportunists taking advantage of the weaknesses of one
government or another over some others. Looks like China is moving
against Taiwan, and Japan is moving to intercept. North Korea looks
to be making a play against South Korea. Muslims are rising up in
Europe and against each other in the Middle East.
“Best they can tell the Saudis are raising a protest against several
nation states over there, including Russia. Looks like a lot of troops
and equipment amassing in Syria near the border of Israel.”
“Uh oh. Some things don't change.”
“This general guy...” Sandy struggled to recall. “I forget what they
said his name is. He seems to think they are being more bold because
they suspect NATO and the U.S. are too preoccupied and decimated
right now to do anything about Israel's or anyone else's woes. The
President's been on the phone trying to get them to back down, but so
far the Russians are going ahead under the auspices of trying to shore
up their own security and defense. They claim Israel has made threats
to invade Syria and maybe strike Iran.”
“Yeah right,” Ellie rolled her eyes.
“Pretext for war is what the general said.”
“A fancy way of saying an excuse, and any-ol' will do,” Ellie added.
Sandy decided to change the subject. “Be okay with you if I borrow
your car in a bit and check my place out? I'd like to grab some clothes,
see if I can get to my phone. I don't have much in the way of
valuables. It is mostly stuff no one would want and not worth stealing.
I'll need to make arrangements and call my insurance agent.” At Ellie's
grin, “What,” Sandy asked.
“Already on it. Stuff's in a box in Cassie's room. Phone's charging
on the nightstand and Bob is over there now getting things boarded
up.”
Sandy was dumbstruck. She couldn't help but tear up, but she
fought it. She leaned over and hugged Ellie, “Aw. You guys are so
sweet!”
“You are family! Don't sweat it.” Yet Ellie's embrace was fierce,
which betrayed her casual tone as something much more meaningful.
Sandy's tears began to flow warm down her face. It is one thing to love
completely, and another thing entirely to have it given back in
unexpected measure.
There came a knock at the front door. Sandy released Ellie and
excused herself. In the bathroom, she took care of business and
washed her face. She suddenly felt bone weary. Bone weary and her
ribs were now beginning to feel tender. She felt the enormity of the
care for her and her concern for her friend Cassie, still missing and
maybe among The Vanished. Tears threatened to flow again, but she
refused them. Later, she told herself.
The Vanished? Or The Banished? She silently prayed to God, who
she recognized is surely out there, that Cass was well, and not banished
to some alien internment and reeducation camp. Sandy would rather
find she had missed the boat and was left behind, with Cass in Jesus'
arms as she'd always desired, rather than the alternative; or any
alternative. She most assuredly would prefer to see Cass come walking
in the front door. She splashed water in her face once more and
regarded her, tired and puffy face. “God, I'm looking old.”
Gently, she raised her blouse and pressed at her ribs under the
wrappings once more. They were a little tender and not as bad as he
had supposed. She played with the edge of the bandage and considered
unwrapping her ribs to look, but then thought better of it. Sandy was
afraid something might move around. They’d told her two ribs were
cracked, but not broken, but how much poking could turn a crack into
a break? After all, maybe they didn't feel so tender, not because the
damage wasn't bad, but because she still had loads of medication in her
veins. Instead she lowered her blouse until a better time.
She toweled her face and when she walked from the bathroom to
Cassie's room, she heard a man's voice coming from the living room.
She wondered who Ellie's visitor might be. Sandy snagged her phone,
now charged, and checked her messages. One voice message. Her
heart quickened as she pressed the Play icon.
“Hello, my name's Marta, I'm with Certified Properties
Unlimited and I am calling about your home refinance. We
have...”
Sandy ended the call and pressed Delete. Not Cassie. She sighed
and headed back to the living room. There was a young black man she
recognized who stood as she entered.
“Sandy, have you met Nathan?” Ellie introduced.
Sandy offered her hand, “I actually think we have met once before.
Friend of Cass... Cassie's, right?”
Behold WRATH 29
He smiled back. “Yes! Yeah from college.” His smile wavered as he

added, “I've been looking everywhere. Why I'm here... I'm sure it was
the Rapture.”
Sandy and Ellie exchanged a glance and they all sat. “How can you
be sure, Nathan? I mean, she always talked about how the Rapture
would be, like, suddenly disappearing. There should be clothes, glasses,
fake nails and pacemakers lying around. This was different,” Sandy
said.
“I know. I know, but we would often have these great discussions.
We fell together in a Young Republicans group and there's not so
many of us at college. At the time, there weren't a lot, you know,” he
held his hand up to his face. “So I kinda stood out. She probably
thought I was feeling a little conspicuous so she came over and
introduced herself. Ever since then, we found we had a lot in common
to talk about, strange as it seems. When Cassie gets the bug to talk
something through, she will talk till she's through. I mean long into the
night sometimes, like there's no sleeping till she gets it out.”
They all shared a laugh. Sandy added, “Yep! Sounds like Cass.”
“Anyway, she had this interactive DVD always sitting on her desk
labeled, If You Are Left Behind. She likes to wave it at me and tease
me with it whenever I push back on her when she tells me about
Jesus.”
Ellie covered her face with both hands and began rocking and
sobbing. Sandy put her arms around her shoulders.
“I'm sorry,” Nathan said. “Maybe this isn't the best time for this.”
“No, no,” Ellie encouraged. “This is exactly the best time for this.
I'm sure I've heard this before, but idiot me... I don't remember all of it
because what does my know-it-all young child know about anything?
Clearly, more than I thought. Go ahead.”
Nathan cleared his throat and nodded. “I have a pretty good
memory from studying for school, but I printed these.” He held up
some pages. “This one's from 1 Corinthians:
“I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the
imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all
sleep…
“That’s Bible for ‘die.’
“…but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet
will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and
we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on

the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on
immortality...”
As Nathan read, something on the TV caught Ellie's attention so
she gasped, wide-eyed. Sandy and Nathan looked. So incredible and
inexplicable was the timing, Sandy told herself, surely this is God-sent
timing. What had Cassie called it? Providence. On the TV a reporter
was pointing to a series of opened graves. The crawler on the bottom
of the screen was saying, MASS GRAVE ROBBERIES, but Sandy did
not think an organized gang of grave robbers picked this occasion to
systematically rob a bunch of coffins for their potential booty. The trio
watched in stunned silence as the decidedly unsteady cameraman
tromped around trying to keep with the lady reporter as she flitted
around the cemetery pointing at opened graves in the ground. The
camera froze on one grave where he zoomed into a hole where the
coffin was burst from the inside. There remained everywhere scattered
dirt, but no piles.
“Holy cow!” Ellie stared wide-eyed with her hand over her mouth.
The trio shared shocked glances with one another. Sandy noted they
were all huffing great volumes of air. She closed her eyes and exhaled
slowly because she didn't wish to pass out.
“That's what I read!” Nathan interjected. “Listen. Listen to the
rest!” Excitedly, “No that's not it...” he scanned his page. “Here it is!”
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a
shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet
of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who
are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we
shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one
another with these words.
“First Thessalonians 4:16 to 18 right there! She told me all about it.
There is a Rapture, but the dead in Christ go up first!”
“Then why didn't they vanish up through the graves and dirt the
way the people floated up through ceilings and stuff?” Ellie asked.
Nathan said, “I don't know. Maybe this is supposed to be some sort
of sign from God about what happened. It's not supposed to be a big
secret, see? I mean the Bible talked about these things. Everybody was
warned. So maybe the graves are open so those left can see, and people
floated up so we could see. See? That way it can’t be disputed.”
Sandy wondered, “You read the Lord himself will descend from
Behold WRATH 31
heaven with a shout. So where is the Lord? I don't remember that part.
Is Jesus in Israel?”
Ellie said, “No, I remember. I read a rapture story a few years back
Cassie had laying around the house. I read a lot of it anyway. It was
pretty clear first thing was Jesus comes in the clouds, takes his believers
out, and then The Tribulation runs like seven years before Jesus comes
all the way back to stay. I remember reading that a few times because it
was confusing at first. But I do remember seven years because she kept
saying it’s a week of years. Seven.”
Nathan nodded, “That sounds right.”
“So what... where was the shout?” Sandy looked back and forth
between Nathan and Ellie. “Look, I was in the shower with the radio
loud, singing to myself. I didn't hear a shout.”
“I don't know how anyone could have heard a shout over the
sound of the storm. It didn't rain a drop, but the clouds rolled in and
all the thunder and lightning. Scared the heck out of me,” Ellie
answered.
Nathan looked at her, his brow knit together.
“What.” Ellie said to him.
“Here too? It was like that all the way down in Orange County,
south of L.A. It sure seems like a pretty big area. What time?” Nathan
asked.
Ellie thought. “Let's see. I'd been watching Newheart, but it just
finished. So about two o'clock or so?”
Nathan was agitated. He pulled out his phone and tapped on it,
scrolled, tapped some more.
“What are you looking for,” Sandy asked.
“I'm going back at the weather radar for yesterday at two. That's the
same time as it hit over a hundred miles away.” After a moment he
looked up. “There is nothing there. Nothing on the radar. Zero, zip,
nada.”
Sandy is shaking her head, “I'm getting that Twilight Zone feeling
again.”
“Welcome to my world. I have felt this way since about then and
never left it,” Ellie quipped.
Nathan blew air out. “If God or His angels shout, what would it
sound like to us?” Then they all fell silent a hard minute. “Is it meant
for us to hear at all, or just them?”
Sandy pointed her chin at Nathan's paper and asked, “What else
you got there? Why don't you start at the top?”
Nathan shook off his reverie, “Oh, right. Yeah, the first batch of
verses I read was from First Corinthians fifteen. Let's see, I read it
here,” he scanned his paper. “Okay that chapter is about the
resurrection, but how flesh and blood as you and I now have, can't
inherit God's glory. I guess maybe we'd fry in his presence or
something. Dunno. Then he says it's a mystery, but we won't all die, be
we shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last
trumpet. The videos I'm seeing, they changed all right. Started glowing
bright before they went up. Didn't hear a trumpet though. Did
anyone?”
Sandy said, “Like you said, maybe only they got to hear it. Like
maybe it's a call to them. Or heck, maybe it is what God uses to trigger
the change in them. In the videos I saw, they sorta stopped what they
were doing and looking around like they heard something. A lot of
them even starred while looking up around at the sky. I wonder if we
went online and listened to videos all over the world if we would hear
the same thunder and rumble.”
Nathan said, “I don't know, but it would be interesting and I will
sure be checking it out. Let's see. So it says corruptible will become
incorruptible, immortal... Death is swallowed up in victory... Oh. The
sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law, but God gives us
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Quiet stretched on.
“Jesus died for our sins,” Sandy said. “We are in sin and death
because it keeps us from God, but they go not because they don't sin
but because Jesus paid for their sin on the cross.”
“Why didn't Jesus pay for our sin too?” Ellie wanted to know.
“I don't know about you, but I don't ever remember asking him
to,” Sandy replied.
They all shared an uh-oh moment and not one could think of a
thing to say. Sandy thought to herself, more of a prayer, God, is it too
late? Are we going to Hell?
Behold WRATH 33
Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking

after those things which are coming on the earth:
for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. (Luke
21:26)
“I gotta get some air.”

Ellie rose up from the sofa and pulled her phone from her pocket
as Sandy and Nathan watched her pace. She spoke into her cell, “Hey,
Bobby, it's me... We're okay, considering...” She looked over to Sandy
and nodded. “Okay, good. I'll tell her. Hey, we're going to get out of
the house for a bit... No I haven't heard anything... I need to get a
couple things from the store but with everything going on I haven't
thawed anything for dinner. Can you grab something on the way
home? Yeah, love you too. Oh, and grab extra. We have more
company. No, I don’t know how much he eats but go ahead and
assume a lot. It’s not like we’re really going on vacation this year.”
As she ended the call Nathan said, “Oh, hey. I don’t want to be any
trouble.”
“Don’t be silly. Any friend of Cassie is really family. It’s really our
pleasure.”
Sandy and Nathan stood. Sandy asked, “That about the house?”
“Bob says he's got it boarded up. A car struck the corner but there
was only one way in. That part of the house he tarped and nailed. He
left a couple lights on to discourage looters.”
“Nice! Where do you want to go?”
Ellie considered a moment longer, “Uh, I mostly need to clear my
head. To think. I do need to pick up some milk and eggs. Maybe TP,
ha ha…” she said not grinning. “And, I thought we'd swing by the
church and see if anyone's there. Cassie’s church.”
Sandy and Nathan exchanged a look with raised eyebrows. “That
would be interesting,” Nathan remarked. “Though I doubt she’d go
there without coming here first.”
Sandy kept an eye out for kids playing outside as they drove. She
could tell how conflicted Ellie was about Cass. No one wants to be
away from their child, not even an adult one, for several years. Sandy
felt the same way about the likelihood Cass was raptured. As it was,
she had to wait to see her husband in Heaven again. At least she hoped
she would. Surely she would. Danny was always the spiritual one. He
had the Bible with all the notes in it, not her. She had told him when
they began dating, she was a believer, and she was. At least, of course
she believed in God. It would be foolish not to. Sandy also knew she
was not especially devoted to reading her Bible every day. Nor every
month. She hardly ever went to church, unless Cass or someone
invited her. She used to go with Danny because it was important to
him. She had to admit to keeping God at arm's length, which was
probably why Jesus kept her at arm's length at the Rapture.
She was excited to think she could be seeing Danny again in a
handful of years, but wanted to kick herself because she could be with
him now, had she been a truly committed believer. Sandy knew being a
believer in Danny and Heaven would not see her there any more than
her shallow belief in God saw her raptured. I blew it, God.
Ellie's struggle must be somewhat similar for her. Yet not really,
because Cass is more like a missing persons case with no closure.
Presumed Raptured. Sandy both hated and loved that Cass was not
here. No one would wish the next few years on anyone they love, but
God, the ache and longing in her heart to see Cass right now. To have
her explain what she must do to square things with God. Sandy
decided she would make it a point to speak with Ellie about all this
next time she was alone with her. For that matter, she couldn't even
imagine how Bob was dealing with this loss of his only little girl. Cass
may be a college girl now, but no matter her age, she would always be
daddy's little girl.
From in the car, it seemed to Sandy, most of the smoke had abated.
Most of the fires must be under control. Nathan noted, based on clips
from social media, looting was taking place in every major city. There
was discussion of implementing quarantines under Martial Law. It
would mean military in the streets, restricted movement, barricades,
curfews. Nathan said people are using the occasion to, once again,
press for gun confiscation. The big difference this time was fewer
dissenting voices.
However, Nathan also shared how folks were noticing many posts
were being taken down from various social media outlets almost as
quick as they went up. He decided to test the theory and attempt a pro-
Behold WRATH 35
gun post. He noted he was denied on four different outlets and the
one on Facebook stayed up for maybe a minute before silently going
away. There was no warning, no Facebook Jail to restrict him from
posting for 30 days or anything. His page refreshed and the post
simply was not there when it came back up.
Also, the stock markets over the entire globe were taking a beating
and so they had closed them all after the New York Stock Exchange
had only been open about thirty minutes. So now they announced the
markets would remained closed “in honor of the many missing” until
the following Monday. A U.S. aircraft carrier in a tense standoff with a
number of Chinese vessels in Japanese waters was called away to an
undisclosed location. In short, the world news was not good at all.
Someone posted video clips and photos of trucks driving into
tunnel systems somewhere in the D.C. area and rumors were flying
saying calls to the politicians were not getting through. Nathan noted it
was a safe bet the next televised speech from the president would be in
front of a blue curtain and not from within the Whitehouse, which was
understandable. One particularly irritated pizza delivery guy posted a
video complaining he showed up at a senator's office to deliver an
order but no one was there. Not even the capitol police or a security
guard. “Where's my tip! I want my tip!” He held a pizza slice up for all
to see, “See this? I'm eating your pizza! This pizza is now mine, fool!”
When they arrived at the church, Sandy was amazed to see so many
cars. They were in the dozens. Ellie said, “It’s not Sunday. Is there
something going on we don't know about, or are all these people now
suddenly smitten with an attack of conscience?”
“It's understandable I guess,” noted Sandy. “I mean, we're here.”
“This is crazy!” Nathan remarked at the number of cars.
They found a place to park and walked toward the church. Sandy
turned to observe more cars were pulling in and there were even some
folks walking in to the lot from off the street. Upon entering, she
noted at least two men in suits off to the sides a bit wearing earpieces.
An elderly gentleman and a couple of ladies were greeting and shaking
the hands of guests and now and then returning hugs. Many were
tearful and virtually every last person looked more than a little numb.
They spoke in hushed tones like at a funeral.
Before Cassie went away to college, this was her church. When she
was about six years old she gave Sandy a pretty good scare when she
started seeing things. There definitely was some weirdness when
Defense Department equipment malfunctioned, creating what Defense
described as a sort of temporal shift for a short time in town. Scientists
called it a synchromatic dysplasia caused by a fouled up

electromagnetic equipment failure. Allegedly, the Navy mounted
“Weather Promotion” equipment on a jet for testing but it broke loose
and hit the ground nearby. Skepticism prevails because, why should the
Navy care about anything not used as a weapon. Conspiracy theories
abound.
The results were chaotic. Many experienced psychosis, illusions,
missing time. It created a localized geologic anomaly, opening the
ground. To this day, people are still missing and suspected buried
beneath landslides. Little Cass was affected in a couple of odd ways.
One way was she claimed to have a particular mission given her from
an angel. She kept on randomly disappearing and Sandy would have to
look everywhere to find her. She didn't have a fever or anything, but
Cass persisted in her stories. Even Sandy herself thought she had seen
strange beings but authorities told her she too had suffered the ravages
of psychosis caused by the electromagnetism in the experimental
device.
When the thing finally shut down and the Navy showed up to
retrieve it, there was little Cassie playing on top of the darn thing. She
insisted a big angelic war had been going on and it was she, a little
child, sent to shut it down and restore everything to normal.
Cass never again displayed any proclivities toward disappearing at
inconvenient times, but then family, friends and psychologists had
lectured her thoroughly. She did however continue to demonstrate a
high level of “smarticles” and creativity, all the way through school.
Not surprisingly, with her new fascination with the spiritual, she
insisted upon a new church habit. Absolutely though, little Cassie all
the way up to older Cass was the way Sandy survived the loss of her
husband to an undetected heart defect one Christmas while on a
treadmill. Sandy doubted she would have ever made it through the
following years without Cass.
Sandy had come a couple times to church, at Cassie's insistence, but
no more. And now, here she was and Cassie was not. If this was not
the Rapture, Sandy vowed she would scour every inch of Southern
California until she found her. She wondered how many of these folk
attended on a regular basis who knew Cass.
Beyond the Narthex and into the sanctuary the mood became
somber. No one was visiting above a whisper. Recorded music played
over the speaker system, but it was quiet and reverent. A young man
made his way to the front. Sandy had not yet seen the regular pastor,
but then if it was the Rapture, he shouldn't be here. Who the rest here
were she did not know. However, everyone knows, like no atheists in
Behold WRATH 37
foxholes, there are always worshippers in tragedy.

The young man made his way to a music stand down front on the
floor, rather than up to the pulpit. He tapped on the mic lightly.
“Good afternoon. Thank you for joining us. I'm Gary Trent. I'm
nobody important here. Just a member of the college group, when
there was one. I grew up here. I see some familiar faces, I'm sorry to
say. Sorry, because if you are here today it is because like me, you have
missed the Rapture. This is the catching away of the church. How does
that happen? If you are like me, you might have at some point in your
life mouthed a written prayer on the back of a Bible tract, or even
walked up front to Accept Christ or Ask Jesus Into Your Heart. For
me, it was for fire insurance. There was no lasting, real repentance. I
did not change my life, except for maybe a week or two. Heck, most
guys make New Year's resolutions longer.”
Some nervous laughter burbled from the seats.
“Anyway, let me tell you where things went horribly wrong for all
of us. It doesn't matter how good you thought you were. It doesn't
matter you may have been better than others, better even than many
who attended this church. It doesn't matter if you mouthed a prayer as
if it was a magical incantation. The Bible says man looks at those
outward things, but God looks upon the heart. The Bible also says the
heart of man is deceitful and desperately wicked, so it doesn't matter if
you follow your heart. First I will share as I have been doing every
couple hours since this happened. I am going to tell you truly how you
all can be saved. Then I am going to tell you what we can expect for
the next seven years.
“Listen carefully. You don't all have Bibles. There is here an average
of 4.7 Bibles per household in print alone. There are also many digital
versions. I encourage you to get a downloadable version onto a small
SD card or thumb drive and tuck it away. Believe me when I tell you,
print versions may be going away, and soon. And remember it wasn’t
that long ago when going to church was banned because of a virus,
they told us. None of us is new to Cancel Culture. Churches were shut
while protests continued. Meetings for other atrocities continued. They
had apps to track us so they would know what contagious people were
around us if someone got the virus.
“The time is coming when similar Contract Tracing apps will track
us to see who is meeting up at church, or with other Christians, and
then track those people at homes and who meets up there. What I am
saying is, soon Christianity will be the virus that gets tracked,
quarantined and exterminated. For all we know, it’s already begun.
“Listen to what the Bible says in the Book of Romans in the New
Testament. Chapter 3:
“23
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
“Every single one of us have sinned. God is holy and glorious
and we are not. Look at chapter 6 now:
“23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of
God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
“Because we fall so short of God's holiness, we are enemies of His.
Therefore, death has entered into the world. Worse, eternal death, or
separation, from God. Chapter 5 says:
“8
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much
more then, having now been justified [just as if I'd never
sinned] by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath
through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we were
reconciled [made friends] to God through the death of His
Son, much more, having been reconciled [made friends],
we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only that, but we
also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through
whom we have now received the reconciliation
[friendship].
“This is why we are all on our way to hell prepared for the devil and
fallen angels, because we cannot be where God is. But, though we are
sinners, Christ gave up his life on the cross. He shed his own blood in
our place. He won the victory over hell and death when he rose from
the dead three days later. Because he lives, all who are his will live too,
in eternity with Christ. Are you his? Then in Romans ten:
“9
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and
believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the
dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation.
“Then verse 13 says:
“13
For “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be
saved.
“If you really are his, you are being called. Repent! Turn from your
sins while you still can! I am not exaggerating when I say; you do not
Behold WRATH 39
know how much time you have left.”

Sandy didn't know if she was supposed to feel anything or not, but
her heart felt as if it were being squeezed. Ellie was looking down at
the floor and Nathan's head was down and he had his hands over his
face. This seemed too simple. Had they missed the rapture for
something so ridiculously easy? God, I don't know how to pray this.
Forgive me for being so stupid. For sinning against you. What have I
done? What was I ever waiting for? Forgive me for being angry at you
for taking Danny away from me. God, forgive me for being such a
sinner. Thank you, Jesus, for dying on the cross for my sins. I repent!
God, I repent! Save me!
Sandy broke into great sobs. She was at once sorrowful and yet
hopeful. She was bitter with herself, yet joyful of a God who would
forgive her, and of a Savior who would endure the cross for her. Who
was she anyway? Why should He care? Nathan put a comforting arm
around her shoulder. Ellie got up and hurried to the back and out the
door. Sandy became aware young Gary Trent had been speaking while
she had been lost in her own thoughts and prayer.
“So it's more important,” Gary Trent continued, “than any other
time in history, his followers remain vigilant and prayerful. I really
don't know how much of God's wrath will affect us. Since turning to
Christ I have been re-reading as much as I can, but after the Rapture, I
came here, have my dad's keys, then a couple folks followed me in.
They wanted to seek God and pray, like me. So, I let them in. I guess I
neglected to lock the door because next thing I know, I came back
from exploring the church for the pastor or someone and the place
was half-full. Since then I have been up here every two or three hours
sharing like this. I suppose I should get some sleep some time, but so
far the Lord has granted me energy to keep going. Or not, because
now I'm rambling. I apologize.
“Listen, I feel strongly the very next events will be from Ezekiel 38
where we are told about the Gog and Magog invasion of Israel. That’s
mostly allies of Turkey, Russia, Iran… Even now the nations described
in prophecy are amassing at Israel's border in Syria. It will be a
relatively brief war, as today's wars tend to be, but it will be bloody and
toxic. God will destroy those nations coming against Israel though. He
leads them there then He destroys them before the entire world for
His glory, to show He is the sovereign King. Satan would see God
made out to be at least ineffective and, at worst, a liar, by wiping Israel
out and destroying Jerusalem. God made promises to Israel and when
He makes a promise, He keeps it. Therefore, He will wipe those armies

out.
“Now listen, it has to be soon because in the next chapter it says
Israel will be burning the weapons from this war as fuel for the next
seven years. Seven years. That's all we have left before Jesus Christ
comes down to rule from David's throne in Jerusalem, just as the
Angel Gabriel promised Mary in the Gospel of Luke, about seven
years from now. People, get ready! Satan's man, a false Messiah, a
pretend Jesus, a fake Christ, Antichrist, is about to come on to the
scene and present himself as the savior of the world. He will deceive
many. The Jews will accept him in Israel at first. He will see their new
temple built, but he will have an image of himself put in the Holy of
Holies and demand worship as God! This is what happens over the
next three-and-a-half years.
“Then it really gets bad.” Many exchanged worried glances and
muttered.
“Between now and then, Christians will be harassed, silenced,
canceled, jailed and worse, as troublemakers and Right Wing Terrorists
clinging to our guns and Bibles. The New World Order will come for
our guns. They will come for our Bibles. Then they will come for us.
But half-way through this seven year Tribulation begins the Great
Tribulation and many sitting here right now, today, will die as martyrs.
Many will die before then, but at the halfway mark there will be no
attempt to cover-up or hide it. The world will cheer Antichrist on to
wiping us out and newly converted Jews who finally figure out their
Messiah is a fraud, and Jesus was their true Messiah after all. That's in a
number of Old Testament places, but it's also in chapter eleven of the
book I was reading from, the book of Romans.”
Sandy grew concerned when Ellie did not return, so she tugged at
Nathan's sleeve. She didn't know if Ellie was mourning Cass or her
sins, or what. They walked outside and saw the car was still there.
“Think she's okay?” asked Nathan
“Probably worried about Cass,” Sandy suggested.
Nathan got out his phone and opened some app he began fiddling
with.
“None of it will be good news,” she said to him.
“No I'm Noodling something,” he said. “I have this Noodler app.
It can be used to timeline stuff. See?” He showed her a line about like
a spaghetti stick with little beads threaded on it. “Cassie had been
loading it up with end times Revelation-type stuff and sharing it with
me.”
Behold WRATH 41
Nathan stopped when she did because it was bouncing too much
for her to look at well. “How's it work?”
“See, these beads threaded on the noodle are events. Tap on one
and...” he did, and it opened to an event titled The Two Witnesses,
followed by a brief description and Bible references in Revelation. He
said, “Now see I can tap this Bible reference and look. The passage
opens up for me to read. I can either slide back to the previous “Bead”
or ahead to the next, or back out and see the whole Noodle if I want.”
Sandy was impressed at the complexity behind the simplicity of it.
“Cassie did this?”
“Well, not the app,” he clarified. “But she input all the data. It's
easier to look at on a desktop of course. Some of the links embedded
will play a video, open a presentation or take you to an outside web
source.”
“So, we can look at this and see what to expect?” She asked.
“Yep! I can set you up any time. It's on the cloud so I can grant
anyone at all access to see it. Or, I can grant someone Admin or Editor
privileges to edit and add to or whatever.”
“Nathan, this is huge! People should know about this. What's it
called again?”
“Noodler. You know, as in using your noodle to work something
through. Plus the timeline looks like a long, beaded noodle, so....”
“Yeah, I get it. Did she finish it?” She asked.
“I think we should find out. Once we get back we can study what to
be expecting next.”
Even as Sandy and Nathan reached Ellie's car, they could hear the
radio. She had the window down and was listening to the news. She
looked at them when they arrived and her mouth was a grim line. She
announced, “It's started.”
Sandy no sooner asked, “What?” When a growing rumble up from
the coast increased and increased until Ellie quickly popped the door
open and stood, looking. Low on the horizon a massive, glowing disc
loomed. It seemed like it should be over them already, it was so
massive. The line of its width continued to increase. Sandy was
reminded of coming over the ridge in Nevada toward Las Vegas. An
illusion makes it look like you have ten or fifteen more minutes before
you will arrive, because the scale is greater than the eye perceives. Only
it is an hour and a half later before you actually arrive.
This disc reminded Sandy of that illusion. The disc's width
expanded suddenly as it shot over them, then gone from sight. They all
barked a quick yelp, so startling was the jump. But the rumble
continued to increase until again, very suddenly from low over the
trees, three and then two more Navy jets rocketed loudly in the
trajectory of the massive disc. While the disc had been utterly silent,
the growing rumble had been the full throttle of the U.S. Navy
rocketing no doubt from the Point Mugu Naval Air Station down the
coast. All three had clamped their hands over their ears and ducked as
though in danger of their heads clipped off by an errant wing. Then
with a slow, pulsing thrum a long shiny almost cigar-shaped craft
rocketed over. Sandy thought it looked more like a vast chrome water
heater.
“What the holy freakazoid was that?” Nathan exclaimed excitedly.
Ellie offered a dubious look. “Freakazoid?”
“It's all I could think of without swearing! I've sworn off swearing,
okay?”
Ellie threw her hands up in surrender and took a half step back,
“No, it's fine! Was that…?”
Sandy turned to see people were streaming from the church to
check on the commotion. From another side road, a caravan of
Humvees motored at a good clip. “What in the world...?” Sandy
marveled.
“Heard it on the radio,” noted Ellie. “Because of all the looting and
rioting they've declared Martial Law.”
Sandy looked back and forth between the other two and jabbed her
finger up in the air. “We need to have a discussion about the shiny
flying elephant in the room.”
Behold WRATH 43
Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, [Like

maybe aliens to believe in instead] so that they
may believe what is false (2 Thessalonians 2:11)
The caravan was large enough and the engine noise excessive
enough that young Gary Trent stepped out front to check on the
commotion. Sandy saw more congregants pouring out behind him. He
caught Sandy's eye, or maybe Ellie's, and wandered their way while
marveling at the peculiar sight. When he reached them, he pointed
back and forth between Sandy and Ellie, “You are Cassie's family,
right?”
“Ellie. I'm Cassie's mom. This is Sandy, and this is Cassie's friend
from college, Nathan.”
“Gary,” he introduced. Though no one seems to shake hands any
longer. Gary said, “This can't be good,” as he waggled his finger up
and down the caravan of Hummers.
“Just came on the radio,” Sandy remarked. “Martial Law.”
Gary said, “After only a couple days. So soon.”
Ellie cocked her head at him, “So is this it? Are we in the Great
Tribulation now?”
“From everything I remember as a not-particularly-engaged
Preacher's Kid, not yet.”
“Wait. So the Rapture doesn't begin the Tribulation?” Sandy asked.
Gary pulled his phone out of his pocket and navigated to his Bible
app. “I wanted to double check so I looked it up again. See, the Book
of Daniel, you could say, is the Revelation of the Old Testament. In
Daniel chapter nine Daniel is recalling a prophecy from the prophet
Jeremiah about their enslavement to the Babylonians. You may
remember, because of captivity, Jerusalem is empty and desolate for
seventy years.
Well, that came to pass, but now Daniel does the math in his head
and realizes they are at the end of their captivity and he wants to go
home. So, he starts praying for himself and his people. He is praying an
intercessory prayer because he knew God permitted their slavery
because of gross sin. They had been disobedient, immoral and were
worshiping false gods. He asks the Lord to hear and forgive without
delay.
“So here is Daniel, praying out loud, confessing the sin of his
people Israel, when the angel Gabriel swoops in. He tells Daniel here
in chapter nine, how greatly he is loved and conveys a prophetic vision
to Daniel about the remainder of days on the earth about his people
Israel, and the holy city, Jerusalem, in verse twenty-four.”
Nathan had his phone out and was following along, so Sandy
leaned over to follow with him. “Daniel's Seventy Weeks prophecy,”
Nathan commented.
“Exactly,” Gary affirmed. “Except I guess, technically, it is
Gabriel's, but it was given to Daniel. Anyway, as it says, it reveals a
briefing, or summary, about the remaining history for the people,
Israel, and the City of Jerusalem. The first seven weeks talk about a
“prince” or someone anointed and events around a word to restore
and build Jerusalem. Now it is important to understand in Hebrew, the
word 'week' refers to a group of seven. It's somewhat like the way we
say 'dozen.' So there is a period of seven times seven, or forty-nine
years.”
“I hate math,” complains Ellie. “What next?”
“I understand. Okay, then the next period comes out to be sixty-
two weeks of years culminates in an anointed one who is cut-off. The
phrase in the Hebrew means he dies in great dishonor.”
“Jesus,” says Sandy.
“I'm going to assume you are being literal about the God-man and
not swearing.”
Sandy rolled her eyes at him.
“Okay, sorry. Yes, the lion's share of theologians have agreed, this
part of the prophecy is about Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away
the sins of the world. He bore our sins, this is why it was so shameful,
and the Father even turned away from him on the cross. He forsook
Jesus. But then of course Jesus defeated Satan and sin on the cross,
then three days later defeated death when he rose again. That's how
there can be a resurrection for us one day.”
Nathan said, “We were going over those verses a few minutes ago,
how we don't all die but some will be changed in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, and so shall we be with him forever, or
Behold WRATH 45
something.”
“Yes. So that didn't go precisely as all the books and videos
portrayed and I suspect there will be another diversion or two from
how theologians thought events would go down. So anyway, if you've
been counting, this comes to only sixty-nine weeks of years or four-
hundred and eight-three years.”
“Again with the math,” Ellie complained.
Sandy snorted a laugh at Ellie. “Seven years left,” she said.
“But it hasn't started yet? I'm confused,” Ellie grumbled.
“Okay. So here is where we are,” Gary said. “The first sixty-nine
weeks in the Daniel 9 prophecy are fulfilled as of over two-thousand
years ago. So there is one final week of years we have been waiting for
ever since. There can be fuzzy, undefined gaps in the prophecy,
particularly between the end of the sixty-ninth week and the final week
of years.
“First let's finish what Gabriel told Daniel. There is some dispute
among Bible teachers about the timing of the twenty-sixth verse. We
can talk about it later if you want, but the guys saying this prophecy
was already fulfilled completely when Jerusalem was sacked in 70 A.D.,
also typically did not believe in a Rapture, or often, the Tribulation
either. They will say the prophecy is symbolic; that it is figurative
language. Only, that doesn’t make sense, because the prophecies about
Jesus’ first coming weren’t symbolism or metaphor. Jesus fulfilled all
the Old Testament prophecies literally and exactly. Why would the rest
of the prophecies suddenly by symbolism?
Sandy said, “This is hurting my head. Okay, so, main thing is,
Gabriel gave Daniel this huge prophecy that is broken up in chunks of
weeks that have all happened except the last week… er… week of
years. Right? And that part is where we are now.
“You pretty much summed it up,” Gary said.
“Why didn’t you just say that?” Ellie opined.
Sandy said, “Because they are nerdy guys and they like to detail
everything out. Just kidding, but not really. So, if I remember right, we
get Antichrist before we get Jesus Christ.”
“I think recent events put us in the second part of verse twenty-six,
and into verse twenty-seven. This is all about Antichrist. Here is what
it says:
“26b
...And the people of the prince who is to come shall
destroy the city [that's Jerusalem] and the sanctuary [the
temple]. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end
there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. 27 And he shall
make a strong covenant [a contract or treaty] with many for

one week, [seven years] and for half of the week [three-
and-a-half years] he shall put an end to sacrifice and
offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one
who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on
the desolator.”
Ellie crossed her arms over her chest, “Clear as mud.”
Sandy chuckled. She completely understood where Ellie was
coming from and yet, she knew if she could just sit tight through this
piece of puzzle she would enjoy much-needed clarity.
“The main part we can cross-reference with other passages of
scripture is in verse twenty-seven about the Antichrist. First thing, 'he
shall make a strong covenant' it says, 'for one week' or in other words,
seven years. Right? With me so far?” Gary asked.
Everyone looked uncertain. Gary saw it and said, “Look, we have
one week left in the prophecy, which we know is a group of seven. The
Antichrist makes a seven year agreement, or contract. How can it be for
seven years unless it is at the beginning of his last week of years on
earth?”
They all nodded now. “Ooooh... I see your point,” Sandy said.
Ellie said, “That I understood.”
“And to confirm, we have another time place-marker where it says
here, half-way through, or three-and-half years in, he puts an end to
sacrifices and offerings, and it calls him The Desolater.” That he said
like Schwarzenegger. “Sorry. I think I said I'm tired. Anyway, that's
how we get the phrase about 'the Abomination of Desolation' Jesus
mentions. So there must soon be a temple.
“The last temple was destroyed back in 70 A.D. So, Antichrist's
agreement must include a temple, or how do you stop the sacrifices
without a temple where sacrifices are made? How do you 'desolate' or
desecrate it without one? See, Jesus said in his Olivet Discourse in
Matthew 24 when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by
Daniel standing in the holy place, then it's time for those in Jerusalem
to head for the hills. Because Jesus right here tells them to flee. Don't
stop and pack or anything because there is no time. Verse twenty-one
of this Matthew chapter says, 'for then will be great tribulation.'
Revelation records all that stuff right in the middle of the book! So, the
seven year period is the tribulation week, but the second half is the
Great Tribulation.”
Ellie said, “You know, you’re kind of cute and your mouth is
Behold WRATH 47
moving and all… But I take it this is important to us now?”

“Well, I only want to point out this is so because many have taught
over the years that this prophecy already happened waaaaay back in the
first century. They used to argue lots of things, but one is, why would
God separate the last week out?”
Nathan said, “Well, that’s easy. Why would God separate the
second coming from the first? He has this grand plan.”
“Exactly. This is also another way I know 70 A.D. is not what
Gabriel was telling Daniel about, or what Jesus was talking about,
although it was kind of a foreshadow of now. Jesus says of the Great
Tribulation 'For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not
been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.'
See? Jesus says nothing leading up to this time will ever be so bad, nor
any time after. Yet, we know at least WW1 and WW2 were worse than
70 A.D., right?”
“I forgot the question,” Ellie snarked.
“I'm sorry. I know the word of God sticks where my own words
don't, and I wanted to be thorough. You asked if we are in the
tribulation week yet. I tried to show how we know the start because we
have to see a false Messiah, Antichrist, first, and he has to make a
seven year agreement that must include a new temple.”
“I get it,” Sandy assured Gary.
“Another factoid though,” and Gary paused, his mouth a grim line.
“Like I just said from Matthew 24, the next period we go through will
be worse than both World Wars combined. It says in Revelation six, a
full fourth of the world is about to be wiped out. In terms of casualties,
that's nearly two billion, with a 'B', people. This too is before the Great
Tribulation Jesus mentions, so no. It is impossible for 70 A.D. to have
been Daniel's 70th Week. Never in history has a fourth of the world
been decimated. That’s in Revelation 6.”
Sandy found herself blinking at the sheer scale of a fourth of the
world wiped out. “A fourth. I mean. All in one place? Scattered? Are
we going to be safe here?”
Gary was shaking his head, “I don't know. I will look it up, but I
don't think the Bible tells us. I'm sorry if I info-loaded you too much,
but you asked. Did I explain it okay?”
“Yeah that was good! I think you maybe picked up your dad's
preacher gene,” Nathan said.
“A little too late if so,” Gary said.
“Or just at the right time, young man,” Ellie said.
Gary said, “I thought I was saved. I was a youngster, maybe about
ten. I went forward during Summer Bible Camp at this church right
here. I guess all these other kids made decisions for Christ. I knew it
was what my mom and dad wanted and they were always after me. So
one day when they had an invitation I put my hand up. Then I went
forward. They read me the Romans Road verses from the book of
Romans about what I must do and believe to be saved. I told them I
understood, repeated the prayer and walked away with a new Bible
with my name and the date in the front.
“I thought I meant it, but maybe what I really meant is I wanted to
go the Heaven. I mean, who doesn’t? Also, it would be nice to have
the folks off my back. Truth was, I was not sorry for sin. Not that I
had a lot at age ten, but lying, sneaking things, then lying some more. I
was always sorry to get caught, but I was not repentant. I did not break
over my sinful proclivities. I did not turn away from them or desire to,
particularly. So, having said the prayer and being assured I was in, that
was good enough.
“Listen, my friends, just be sure and check your gut. Don’t pray
strictly as fire insurance from hell, or as a heavenly guarantee. You
need to know your sin crucified Jesus Christ, but he laid down his life
to make us friends again with God. Our sin grieves Him and angers
Him because He is holy. Jesus never said for us to ask him into our
heart. Jesus said to repent. I hope you understand that. Not that we
will never sin again, but when we do we are on our face before him like
King David after Bathsheba. Our sin should grieve us and it should
not be our regular lifestyle. I so messed up. But we get a second chance
and it is right now! We missed the rapture, but when we die, or when
Jesus comes back, there are no more chances. I hope I’m clear.”
Sandy felt self-conscious when he looked at her, but she nodded.
She also did that gut-check of her motives. Of course she did not want
to go to hell and yes she wanted to go to heaven, like Gary said. She
could see his pain as he made eye contact with each one. Everyone
gave him a nod.
Gary said, “We are in for some tough times, I’m not going to lie,
but not nearly so bad as hearing Jesus say, ‘Depart from me, I never
knew you.’ Before I forget, one more Antichrist and temple-type of
passage comes to mind.”
Nathan took his phone out, “Shoot. I’m ready.”
“Okay, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, looking at verses one and two it
says,
“Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our
being gathered together [Raptured] to him, we ask you, brothers,
Behold WRATH 49
not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or

a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect
that the day of the Lord has come.
“See, this entire Tribulation Week is considered The Day of the
Lord, even though it ultimately culminates in the Second Coming. Paul
got word they were worried because they thought they'd missed the
Rapture and were left behind, as some were teaching, apparently. Paul
assures them not to be shaken. Listen close, because Paul here is about
to tell them what sign there will be telling them what happens first.
“3
Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day
[Tribulation] will not come, unless the rebellion comes
first, and the man of lawlessness [Antichrist] is
revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts
himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so
that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming
himself to be God.”
“That's like what you said from Daniel and Matthew,” Sandy noted.
“Yes. And no emperor in 70 A.D. did, for sure. The rebellion
comes first; I'm not sure what this means, and the man of lawlessness,
Antichrist, is revealed. This happens right out the gate. Eventually, as
we discussed, he declares himself God from within the temple. Look,
now. Paul goes on to remind them he told them about this stuff on an
earlier visit. But listen to this part beginning in verse six all the way to
the end of the chapter.”
Nathan had been reading ahead a little and he interjected, “This is
important because it maybe, just maybe, tells us about your shiny,
flying elephant in the room, Sandy.”
“The UFO's?” Ellie asked.
“Oh, those.” Gary conceded, “I believe possibly so, at this point. I
reserve the right to change my mind as things progress... Or regress.
Whatever.” Gary looked down and read.
“6
And you know what is restraining him [Antichrist] now
so that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of
lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains
it [that 'he' is the Holy Spirit] will do so until he [the Holy
Spirit] is out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one
[Antichrist] will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill
with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the
appearance of his coming. “
“Amen!” Nathan interjected. Gary nodded and continued:

“9
The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of
Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and
with all wicked deception for those who are perishing,
because they refused to love the truth and so be
saved. 11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion,
[Like maybe aliens to believe in instead] so that they may
believe what is false, 12 in order that all may be
condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure
in unrighteousness.”
Nathan raised a hand, “So, how many shots do we get to believe the
truth before we are stuck in believing a deception? I mean, is that
right? Is this how it works?”
Gary shook his head, “I don't know if I can answer. I don't know if
it is a fixed number, or what. I mean, it may be God gives them this
excuse to point to in their delusion and denial about the Rapture and
what happened to everyone. Really, I wish I could tell you I knew, but
I don't.”
The implications, Sandy realized, were horrific, and yet, what is fair?
God had been extending salvation to mankind throughout all the ages.
It's not as if the Creator should have to beg His creation to accept He
gave His only Son so they might be saved. Yet so many continue to, if
not outright reject Jesus, be as Sandy had to admit she had been up
until a few minutes ago and coasted, with no commitment whatsoever.
Wow. I really got another chance.
“I have something to tell you all,” Sandy began. “In there,” she
pointed at the church, “I repented and gave my life to Jesus,” she
grinned.
“Me too!” Nathan shared. They all smiled and hugged.
“That's wonderful, sweetheart,” Ellie said.
It was not lost on Sandy that Ellie did not confess to the same
conversion. Sandy prayed mightily Ellie would, and soon.
Sandy looked around and realized a sense of new normalcy had
somewhat returned as Gary was speaking. The Humvees were gone,
many people had left, and a few were standing around talking.
“I'm so sorry we took up your break,” Sandy apologized.
Gary looked around and said, “Oh no, it's quite all right. I was just a
guy filling in. One of the Sunday School teachers showed up and
offered to hold down the fort. That in there is not exactly my
wheelhouse. Actually, about five different guys in there offered to step
Behold WRATH 51
up. I don’t know if that’s a blessing or an insult. Either way, I think I’m
done.”
“Look, we were about to stop by the store for a couple items and
then eat a bite at my place, if you'd like to join us,” Ellie offered. That
Ellie invited more time with Gary encouraged Sandy.
Gary looked a little unsure, but Sandy figured, not in a dodging kind
of way, but more in an I don't want to impose way. She said, “Unless
you are talked-out, which I totally understand. We've only been trolling
the news and hoping to hear from Cassie. Only now, I'm leaning more
toward glad Cass is not here.”
Gary smiled and nodded appreciatively.
“Thai food,” Ellie nudged.
“Well then I'm sold,” he chuckled.
“You can leave your wheels here, if you like.” Nathan offered, “I
can drop you back by any time.”
“You sure?”
“Not a problem,” Nathan said.
With Ellie and Sandy in the front seats, Gary joined Nathan in the
back. Gary asked Nathan, “So you know Cassie from college?”
“Yeah. We formally met at a Young Republicans gathering. We
share a couple classes together. Both History and Philosophy. “
“Whew! Philosophy,” Gary shook his head. “That is some pretty
heady stuff. Too much for me.”
“I don't know how well you know Cass, but she can be vocal and
stubborn. I honestly don't think she is in the class for a grade so much
as to argue.” They all nodded.
“So what's your story, Nathan? Sorry if it sounds a little forward,
but I've come to realize our time is short, but it was short before and
we didn't even know it,” Gary pointed out.
“No, it's okay. I was raised in a non-religious home, parents
divorced and one brother. He got me going to a Presbyterian church a
couple years ago, though not a particularly conservative one.
Theological discussions were mostly over cigars and beer. We all
fancied ourselves as mini C.S. Lewis-type philosophers. Actually, I
fancied myself an Amillennialist up till yesterday.”
“A... what?” Sandy asked.
“Amillennialists usually don't believe there is a Rapture or a
Millennium and, like Gary here was sharing earlier, tend to be of the
crowd who thinks Daniel's seventieth week happened in the first
century,” Nathan said.
“I bet they believe in the Rapture now,” Ellie quipped.
“Not everyone,” Nathan advised. “I went back to the hole-in-the-

wall tavern some of the guys frequent near the campus in Orange
County. I only saw one other guy there I know. He looked a little wild-
eyed, but I think he probably had been there drinking since the
Rapture. Man, he was deep in alcohol and denial.”
“So he thinks it is aliens?” Sandy wanted to know.
“No, he was too incoherent to nail down. He's not blind and he
knows people who are missing, but he thinks it's a vast New World
Order conspiracy, like they were rounded up. He's sure any minute
now more will be rounded up, including him. He thinks all the hype
and videos is the devil messing with people, and the rest is the
government Deep State masking and taking conservatives and
Christians away to FEMA camps or something for re-education. He is
sure praying mightily for the Second Coming now though.”
When they pulled into the local Wal-Mart, it became clear they
picked the wrong spot. Shoppers were rolling out with multiple
packages of TP, cases of water, and often dragging a second cart
behind. Ellie shook her head and pulled out another way toward an
exit. “I know another place.”
“I'm having flashbacks. This is like living in a bad zombie
apocalypse B-Movie. It's all so surreal,” Sandy said. “Look, a lot of
them are back to wearing masks, like that will save them from an alien
abduction.”
As they got closer to their exit to the street, they saw a crowd
standing around two women in a shoving match. Sandy looked around,
craned her neck to look for a cop car but didn't see one. She pulled her
phone and pressed 9-1-1.
When the dispatcher answered and asked about the nature of her
emergency, Sandy told her about the two women spoiling for a fight.
Dispatch told her she would route the information but the department
is prioritizing due to so many calls. She suggested the National Guard
may respond, but she couldn't be sure. Then she recommended Sandy
not take any risks or put herself or her family in danger.
“So much for that idea. They said maybe the Guard will answer the
dispatch. They have more calls than they can handle.” Sandy
considered before saying to Ellie, “Tell you what. Go ahead and swing
by my house. I've got some extra supplies on hand.”
“Are you sure? You might need that for an emergency,” Ellie
suggested.
“Ellie. This is exactly what an emergency looks like.”
“Right.” Soon they headed toward Sandy's neighborhood.
On their way there, two Hummers were speeding in the opposite
Behold WRATH 53
direction, grill lights flashing. Gary said, “I don't think those two are
headed over to break up two women fighting.”
Nathan said, “I've been thinking. Maybe it would be wise once
we've had a bite to eat to sit and plan some scenarios. If things are
going to grow increasingly worse, we need to plan for some
contingencies.”
“Amen,” Gary replied.
“I was thinking the same thing,” Ellie said.
Sandy added, “I have a hunch, by the time we're done planning,
we're going to need Bob's work van back at my place.”
“What for?” Nathan asked Sandy.
“Oh, you'll see.”
They rounded a corner, the last leg up to Sandy's house. Across and
up from her house, it looked like one police car and three Humvees
with lights flashing. Sandy was thankful her house was not beyond
what surely would amount to a blockade.
Gary tapped Ellie's shoulder, “Might wanna back in case we need to
make a hasty exit.” She nodded in reply and parked as he suggested,
backing in next to Sandy's car. She shut the car off but no one moved
right away to get out. They were surveying as far as they could see, just
to be careful.
“There's a key hidden in a fake rock at the edge of the yard,” Sandy
told them. “Follow me.” First thing she did though was walk toward
the far corner of the house near the street where the car crashed. It
was difficult to tell the extent of damage, so well was Bob's effort to
tarp-off and seal. The others wandered in her direction. Nathan
formed his mouth into a silent whistle at the damaged home.
Sandy quickly retrieved her key and opened the door. Bob also had
left the radio on loud enough for the place to sound occupied. “Go,
Bob!” She said. She looked toward the bedroom but didn't venture
that way yet. Instead she walked her guests through the kitchen to the
door leading to the garage. She had it shelved and jam-packed with
supplies, carefully catalogued and labeled. Everyone turned, mouths
hanging open while surveying the contents.
“I wouldn't have pegged you for a Prepper,” Gary commented.
“My dear departed husband got us on to some of it years ago. Then
I went through all the crazy with the Navy jet incident a few years
back, and after, decided to work down a list. It kind of grew from
there.”
“Nice,” Nathan added.
Ellie stopped dead and surveyed the garage. She offered Sandy a
sideways look and slowly shook her head. “Darling, I love you, but you
have issues. Serious issues.”
Sandy grabbed a large packet of TP and tossed it toward Ellie. Then
she picked up a flat of bottled water for Gary, then one for Nathan
before asking Ellie, “What else?”
“Got coffee?”
Sandy smiled, “Come on, now...” She winked and walked over to a
cabinet with doors and swung them open. “Any particular blend?”
Ellie laughed. “I think for this occasion we're going to require a
hearty roast.”
Sandy grabbed a couple of one-pound packets and closed the
cabinet. “See? We need to decide what we're going to do and where.”
“Let's go,” Ellie said.
But Nathan said, “Sandy, have you ever had to dig into any of this
stuff before? I mean no disrespect, believe me. Like I said, this is
impressive. But I for one would not have much of a clue about how or
what to put to use. I would have to figure it out as I go but I'm pretty
sure that's not the way this is done.”
Sandy pressed her lips together and shrugged. She hadn't either.
“It's all theory for me too. We probably should pray. Pray and plan and
pray some more.” To Ellie, Sandy asked, “You think Bob would
know?”
Ellie said, “Don't get me wrong, Bob's a very handy guy, but he's no
survivalist, and he was never in the service and was never even a boy
scout. I'm afraid not. You better pray God brings someone else around
who knows what they’re doing.”
Sandy caught Ellie's characteristic sarcasm, but then wondered why
not? After all, God is in the miracle and providential line of work. If
they need it, God will provide.
“Maybe we can persuade brother Gary here to pray for exactly that.
If that's what we need, Ellie is right and God will bring us someone.”
She added, “Let's pray He makes it fast.”
“Let's do it then,” said Gary. “Shall we hold hands?”
And he began to pray.
Behold WRATH 55
But stay awake at all times, praying that you

may have strength to escape all these things that
are going to take place (Luke 21:36)
Sandy and Nathan watched Ellie pull away with Gary back to Ellie's
house. Nathan had volunteered to stay behind and help Sandy carry a
few things to her car. Bob looked to have done a terrific job of
covering the openings created by the stray, driverless vehicle, but with
the activity evident on her street up the way, Sandy felt none too
secure alone in her little craftsman home. She'd had enough
conversations, read enough of the Bible, other books and seen enough
movies to know how things would likely continue to degenerate.
She also knew you would never catch her carrying a flashlight in the
dark with monsters and maniacs while shouting, “Is anyone there?”
Nor will you ever catch her suggesting, “Let's split up so we can cover
more ground,” while in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Nor will
she stick any body parts in dark holes, or pull any switches to see what
they will do. Therefore, she will not be staying alone in her home
during the literal Tribulation, even if she were the most awesome lady
kung fu master ever who seems to be able to beat up any man or beast
that comes her way, though she is minimum a hundred pounds lighter.
Ellie's car having safely traveled around the corner from view,
Sandy led Nathan back inside. She looked around and considered
before saying, “There are a couple of ice chests in the garage. Why
don't you empty the refrigerator and freezer? The rest I think can wait
until we decide what to do about the garage preps.”
Nathan nodded and went into the garage while Sandy stepped
around some debris yet remaining from the collapse in her room.
Clearly, there would be no sleeping in that bed anyway. Dust and bits
of, literally Lord only knows what, covered the bed. Probably some
roofing and insulation laced with fiberglass. She reached under the bed
for a large travel bag for as many items of clothing, toiletries and make-
up as would fit.
It was autumn so the nights would soon be growing much cooler,
and then winter. She had little comprehension as to how long she
would be away. She and Danny had discussed possibilities surrounding
events sending them packing, never to return. She always had a Bug-
Out Bag packed in the back of her car for emergencies. That
contingency had not served her so well, what with a house falling on
her and all. You can't plan for everything.
Sandy began to run through her mind the implications of her
eternal life change. Her chest welled with a thrill as she considered
paradise with Jesus, family and friends, not to mention meeting all
those famous people in the Bible. She had been neglecting her Bible
and reflected upon how little she had read. This had to change. Before,
where she had been admittedly ambivalent, she now had to know as
much about God as humanly possible. It was becoming a burning
desire to learn about Jesus, her Savior.
She had so many questions she hoped Gary could answer. Like,
where is all this destruction going to come from during the
Tribulation? Satan? God? Both? And how will it affect believers? Will
they be wiped-out in the cross-fire? Believers die in quakes, tornadoes,
cancer, fires... Wars! It sounded as if there would be plenty of wars.
Again, her mind tried to comprehend what the destruction of a fourth
of the world would look like. She knew she would be finding out all
too soon. She silently prayed there would be a way of escape. She
mused at what Danny had once said about dying. It's not dying I'm
afraid of. It's whether there will be pain involved.
Her bag was jammed pretty full. She looked around her mess of a
room looking for anything else worth saving, assuming she never
returned. They plan to return, but things happen. Danny's Bible. She
walked over to the nightstand where the Bible rested on a shelf
beneath. She also grabbed her phone charger. Good grief. Maybe she
got hit on the head harder than she thought. She couldn't expect Bob
and Ellie to give up theirs for her. Sandy was confident in prioritizing
her requirements up until then. Now she was hesitant to walk out for
fear of missing something else obvious. There were photos she knew
she also had on a thumb drive.
She turned and walked out of the room, blowing her breath out as
she went. What the heck. She was coming back and soon. Her preps
recently gained greatly in value. Ask any thief, or anyone not normally
inclined to be one but had no preps at all. The stores were quickly
Behold WRATH 57
becoming picked clean. What concerned Sandy about her preps was in
knowing no way did she have seven years’ worth, not even for herself
alone.
When Sandy got to the kitchen, she found Nathan on his phone.
“Are you addicted to Facebook, or what?”
“Man, Facebook is my grandma's app. No, I set my news app to
vibrate on some key words. Look.” He held the phone up for her to
see.
A skirmish was taking place in the Strait of Hormuz. It was unclear
who did it, but someone launched missiles at the Turkstream Pipeline
out to the Black Sea and another oil pipeline running through Turkey
and Russia. Some postulated it could have been China, but most
everyone was pointing at Israel. Iran and other Palestinian groups were
blaming the U.S.
“What's this mean?” Sandy asked.
“I'm not sure, but we need to go talk to Gary and see what he
knows. All I know is those are countries I flagged because of the Gog
and Magog prophecy and tensions are high all over. If the Russians
think the U.S. did this, maybe that's why we aren't in any of those final
prophecies. I sure hope Russia is not about to take us out.”
Sandy felt as though her blood had turned to ice. Danny always
maintained, keep away from all the major metropolitan cities. Those
would have big targets on them. L.A. was only about an hour south.
Moreover, if L.A. is taken out, it will send a ton of desperate people
scattering in every direction, including here. “We should go.” She
picked her bag up off the floor and headed for the door. Nathan
followed with one of the ice chests.
In less than a minute, they were out the drive. Sandy looked over at
Nathan and he was as wild-eyed as she was certain she was, their senses
on full alert. When a cop car rolled up behind them, Sandy was
overcome by a feeling of dread, wondering if she had been speeding.
Did she miss a stop sign? The dude was about on her bumper. Then
he hit his lights.
“Great,” she grumbled. Nathan turned around to look. Sandy
pulled over to the curb and put both her hands at ten and two on her
steering wheel. The last thing she wanted was an angry or paranoid cop
dragging her and Nathan away in cuffs. She reached over to power her
window down.
The officer approached cautiously, hand on the butt of his weapon.
Sandy let out a breath, not realizing she'd been holding it. His badge
read 'Williams.' He took his shades off. “Good afternoon, ma'am,”
greeted Williams, all professional-like.

“Hello, officer. Did I do something wrong?”
“Actually no,” he said. However, Sandy could see his eyes darting,
quickly assessing Nathan, the back seat, and his eyes settled on
Danny's Bible on the console between her and Nathan. “Uh, actually,”
he hesitated. “I noticed your trunk is partially opened and I wanted to
alert you so you didn't lose anything on the road, maybe damage a car
behind you.”
Sandy hadn't noticed the door light for her trunk. She was alert to a
deceit or some kind of trick, but for what reason?
“Please step out of the car ma'am?” he stepped back.
She got out slowly with her keys, keeping her hands visible so as
not to give Officer Williams a pretext for knocking her on the head
with a nightstick. He was backing toward the trunk, but she thought he
certainly did not look tense and she hoped he was not. Looking at
Nathan, he looked very worried. She held a hand up to him and
nodded. When Sandy came around to the back, sure enough, a piece of
luggage strap was sticking out some, where the latch was, and the trunk
was ajar. She began to laugh, not because it was so funny, but from
relief.
“Thank you!” she said, unlocking the latch. She raised the lid to free
the strap.
“Luggage. That'll do it all right. With all that's going on it seems like
an odd time to go on vacation,” he said.
Sandy shut the lid and regarded Officer Williams, trying not to look
guilty of anything. She knew she hadn't done anything wrong, but
when someone in authority starts probing, you kind of get worried as if
you did something you forgot you did, or made an offense of which
you were unaware. They were under Martial Law and who knew what
she did not know?
“We,” she began, stammering. “My friend and I... He was helping
me pick some things up from my house. We're staying with friends. I
mean, not him. Me. I am. Staying with friends.”
Officer Williams laughed. Sandy thought he was sure good looking
when he smiled. A lot friendlier without a professional cop smile. She
laughed back in response.
“Look, I can see you're nervous and there is no need to be. I really
did pull you over for the reason I said.”
“Whew! That's a relief,” she laughed. “I didn't know. All this crazy
going on and now Martial Law. Did I tell you a car hit my house?” she
pointed in the general direction.
“Was that your house? I know that house. Actually, it was a truck. I
Behold WRATH 59
was at the scene.”

Sandy's smile froze. Oh no. “Uh. So then you were probably... I
mean, you were there when they pulled me out?” Man! Tell me this is
not happening.
Officer Williams gave her a knowing look and he smiled broader.
“Oh, you mean when you were hauled out naked?”
Sandy threw her hands over her face and groaned, which elicited a
laugh from Williams.
“Actually, no.”
Sandy peeked from between her fingers.
“I only showed up afterward. I made the call to the tow truck and
filled out the report. And don't worry, no one caught it on their cell
phone either. Besides, I heard you were wrapped in a blanket,” he
assured her. “Is this your car?”
“Yeah, why?”
He pointed to the fish on her trunk lid, a gift from Cass when she
bought the car some years earlier. “So, are you a Christian then? Why
weren't you in the Rapture? Do you believe it was the Rapture, or
something else?” He was all serious now.
Sandy considered carefully. She recalled reading the Tribulation was
going to be a time of great persecution of the believers and the Jews.
She was worried afresh this might be the start of it all. What if
Christians were now, in this time of Martial Law, considered Domestic
Terrorists, radicals and extremists? Would she be hauled away to some
prison camp? There's no denying it. She could no more deny Jesus
than a mother could her child. She turned to face him squarely.
“Yes. I was lost up until earlier today, actually. But then I prayed. I
repented of my sins and I prayed for Jesus to forgive, me so now I am
his. If that's a crime now, you may as well take me in because I won't
change my mind.” She waited for his response.
He held his hand out to her, which confused her. She returned his
handshake.
“My name's Andrew. What's your name?”
She looked at him in wonder before answering, “Sandy Carpenter.”
“Very pleased to meet you, Sandy Carpenter.”
Suddenly she chuckled when she thought about it, asking, “Andy
Williams?”
“Ha ha. Here we go. Never heard that one before. But you don't
look old enough to know who the singer Andy Williams was.”
“Neither do you,” she countered. “Do you have to be Mozart's age
to know who he is too?”
Nathan had climbed out of the car and was watching the exchange
over the roof and looking very puzzled.
“Andy Williams was no Mozart,” Andy countered.
Sandy put her serious face back on. “And what about you, Andy?”
“I'm no Mozart either,” he smiled. When Sandy put her hands on
her hips and tilted her head at him, Andy said seriously, “Oh, I met
another Carpenter before I met you. But this one... The Carpenter I
met was much more. This particular carpenter did so much more than
work wood with his hands.” He paused to let it sink in. “This other
carpenter stretched his hands out on wood and had them nailed there
for you and for me.”
Sandy squeezed shut her eyes that nonetheless pressed out humble
tears of joy. She stepped forward and gave him a brief, awkwardly
returned hug.
“Ah,” said Andy, “A hugger.”
“What'd I miss,” Nathan asked.
Sandy self-consciously wiped at her face. “I'm so sorry. That's not
like me at all. Um, Officer Andrew Williams, this is my friend
Nathan...” she prompted.
“Nathanial Jackson. Pleased to meet you, but,” pointedly to Sandy,
“We really need to be going.”
“Oh yeah,” Sandy nodded. “We really do, Officer. Folks are waiting
for us. Thai food growing cold.”
“Andy is fine. Thai food?” he said. “I know a place. We should go
some time. I mean really all of us.” He made a circle with his hand to
include Nathan.
Sandy caught his quick glance at her ring finger and her face grew
warm. Dang, she just knew she was blushing. “Can you excuse me one
quick minute?”
He held his arms out as if to indicate, 'Sure,' but said nothing.
Sandy leaned toward Nathan over the roof of the car and quietly
said, “You know that thing we just prayed about. Maybe we need to
start quizzing people we meet.”
Nathan attempted a strained whisper, “You mean the cop?”
“For starters,” Sandy said, “yeah. He’s a new believer too. How else
are we going to meet someone God might send to answer our prayer?
Nathan sighed, and shrugged.
Sandy called Ellie to make a quick inquiry and then hung up before
turning back to Andy. “How about now?”
Nathan made a face at her. “Seriously?”
Andy was caught off guard, it was plain to see, as he looked
between Sandy and Nathan.
Behold WRATH 61
“I mean, not your Thai place. Ours. My friend's house. Her

husband didn't know how many we were having over so he bought,
like, a ton of Thai,” she giggled self-consciously. Oh brother. I'm acting
like some stupid schoolgirl. I hate this!
Andy looked at his watch. “You know what? It was end of shift
about 40 minutes ago anyway. Let me radio in and I'll follow you, if
that’s okay.”
“Perfect,” she replied and went around and got back in the car.
Nathan asked, “What are you doing?”
“Hey, in times like these, it could be good to have a cop friend
who's got a line on all the inside information, right?” She shrugged at
him. She could see he wasn't entirely buying it.
“Oh, yeah. And it really helps if he's all cute, right?” he teased.
“Be nice,” she scolded. Andy tooted his horn and waved, so she
started her car and led the way to the Johnson household. “Besides, we
don’t have to tell him everything just yet. First, we pick his brain.”
I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no

means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant
of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.
(Romans11:1)
At the Johnson household, everyone was in the dining room around

the table. For elbow room, Bob and Ellie Johnson pulled the two table
leafs out of the closet and popped them in. Sandy, Gary and Nathan
were listening to Officer Andy Williams, the sixth at the table, as he
regaled them with stories from the past few hours. He had shared his
journey and conversion to faith in Christ and his own struggles in
dealing with the fundamental paradigm shift that was their new world,
offset with the joy and mystery of a new life. Andy shared how, like
they, his perceptions of everything, including his past, have all been
turned upside down. Then he finished with his own notions of hitting
the road.
“For what it’s worth, I'm not even sure how much longer I'll be
continuing with the force, but I’m already looking at my exit. It all
sounds kind of weird and rogue,” he admitted. “I'm not really the lone
wolf man in black type. Well, who am I kidding? None of us is who we
were, right? But I can't explain it. It's like I feel this strong tug to get
out of Dodge. Does that sound weird? That sounds weird.”
Gary said, “Everything now is so weird that nothing can be called
weird anymore.” Gary had briefly spoken with Sandy when she came
back and tacitly agreed to her approach, with some cautions. Now he
quickly made eye contact with the others before telling Andy that they
had been thinking along similar lines, and why. He asked Andy to pray
about considering whether he might be the one to fill that key place to
complete the puzzle.
Behold WRATH 63
They were working their way through the Thai food dishes and
Andy was doing his best to slip in a bite or two when someone would
comment or ask a question. “The short answer is, I don't know how I
may be of any help to you. I'm not even sure I should be telling you a
lot right now. I am not normally given to being so verbose but around
you guys I seem to have diarrhea of the mouth. Oops. Inappropriate at
the table. Sorry. Anyway, I probably should not be sharing some things
but I can’t go along with what’s coming.”
“Why? What?” Bob asked for everyone.
“Martial Law is one thing, but scuttlebutt is, more aggressive
measures have been discussed at the very highest levels. More than I'm
willing to go along with. Talk is they may be allowing the Blue Helmets
to enforce certain measures on our streets.”
“The U.N.?” Gary asked.
Andy nodded around a mouth full of Pad Thai. “Mm hm. Yes and
I'm confident such a move runs counter to the United States
Constitution. Some of us are concerned the first thing they will be
permitted to enforce is gun confiscation.”
Ellie shrugged, “Seems understandable with all the looting.”
“Except, all the cops have their hands full and how are innocent
civilians supposed to protect themselves from said thugs if they are
disarmed?” Nathan asked, to which Andy pointed and nodded around
another bite.
“Okay, so travel would be tough, but do you suggest we bug in, or
bug out?” Sandy asked.
“Bug what?” Bob asked. Bob was a great guy who would do
anything in the world for you. If you told him you needed a ride to
Florida, he would rearrange his schedule and do everything within his
power to make it happen. He was a Utility Man, meaning, he could
about do it all. If you told him you needed a radio built and gave him a
list of parts, he'd scrape them together and do a fine job helping you
assemble them. He would probably also surprise you by showing you
he knew how to build a radio, and probably offer some helpful
improvements and modifications. However, Bob was a bit of a jock
and a sportsman, but he was not up on the latest of much about
anything. He was terribly blue collar and awesomely caring as a
husband, a father and a friend.
“Bug out, meaning, do we pack everything useful we can grab and
hole up someplace safe,” Sandy explained. “Or, do we bug in, dig a
moat, mine the front yard and make the best of it where we are.”
Everyone was looking at her all wide-eyed and quiet. “I'm joking about
the mine part a little bit. Maybe the moat too.”
A couple of people chuckled, but it was the nervous type. So much

for trying to relieve the tension.
“This is our home. I'm not going anywhere,” Ellie said.
“I feel the same, but if it's supposed to get worse, I'm not sure
sticking around where there are so many people is a very good idea,”
suggested Bob.
“What are you saying?” Ellie was exasperated. “We raised our kids
here. All our stuff is here. Just walk away? Look, the hutch over there
was my grandmother's. Look at all the photos, years’ worth, on the
walls. I have a collection of owls the kids have been buying for me
since they were little.” Ellie was looking at each one in turn to explain,
“It started as me complimenting one cute little jade owl years ago.
Next thing you know, Mark, Bob, you too... Eddie, Cassie, and Sandy,
even from you. I must have every size and color owl under the
rainbow. They're only silly carved things, but they're mine. Everyone
contributed. And what about the kid's things? Mark's old train set is in
the rafters of the garage.
“And look here,” she hurried to the wide door frame at the kitchen.
“Here are the marks of all my kids. Every one of them, growing up.”
She was tearing-up now as she looked. “Here was Eddie at two.
Funny... Cassie at two was bigger, but Eddie is so big now.” Bob
walked over and held her.
“It's not a light decision,” Sandy admitted. “My house, Danny and
I picked out and bought together. But this is a kind of very real war.
Look how many people died in England in World War Two because
they refused to abandon their homes. Happens today elsewhere, I'm
sure. Like in big fires. Flames can come roaring over the ridge and a
man with a fire hose will stand and die rather than leave his home. No
one can force anyone, but staying will probably be a death sentence.
Millions...” then Sandy checked herself, “Actually billions, are going to
die.”
“Half the world,” Nathan said. He looked at his phone. He had his
Noodler app open, reading some links. “Says here, right off, a fourth
of the world is destroyed. We are close to eight billion right now. In
terms of casualties, that would leave about six billion alive. From there
Cass linked the Seal Judgments over to a Trumpets link. Revelation
9:15 says another third of mankind more. A third of six billion is
another two billion people. Four billion total from those judgments
alone is half the world. A little over a hundred million died in all the
wars since the twentieth century. Maybe as much as one billion in all of
human history. In the next seven years it will be four times that.”
Behold WRATH 65
For what seemed countless minutes, no one spoke. The weight of

their plight seemed almost too much to bear. Statistically, half of them
would die. Of course, in reality, wrong place at the wrong time, they
could all die, or, they might all live. Who but God can know?
Bob asked, “Then, where is safe? Does the Bible say? Maybe we can
go there?”
Gary chimed in with, “Petra.”
“That's a bit far of a drive and travel is restricted now,” Andy
pointed out.
“Petra?” Bob asked.
“Jordan,” answered Gary. “Next to Israel. Actually, part of ancient
Israel.”
“I don't even have a Visa,” Sandy added.
“Oh, yeah,” added Nathan.
“I might know a guy,” Andy said, deep in thought.
“To get us the Visas?” Sandy asked.
“No, no. But far from here. Here in good ol' USA flyover country,
but about a couple thousand miles or so away.”
“You really considering this?” asked Ellie. “Where is it?”
Andy considered his hosts, thinking. “I need to make some calls.
You understand. I don't want to speak out of turn.” Then he held his
hands up, “It's just, I know a couple important people I grew up with.
Way out of my league, but we're like family. I've been meaning to call
anyway and see where one guy in particular is concerning Christ...
Considering, well, you know.”
Sandy looked hard at him before asking, “Just who are you, Officer
Andy Williams?”
He grinned, “Only a fish out of water. A quiet, orphan Jewish boy
who grew up in Los Angeles but never quite fit in. That's why I'm up
here. A new beginning and fresh start. No family, never married, no
kids, no girlfriend, few, few ties. Only a friend or two I grew up with in
an orphanage and kept track of through various foster homes, theirs
and mine. That's all.”
“That's all?” Sandy prompted.
“Okay, look. My buddy was orphaned young. Turned out too, he
had a decent trust fund. Not even the orphanage knew. A family
lawyer cut the monthly checks to keep him taken care of, safe and
secure. He didn't find out himself until he was eighteen after he'd
joined the Marines. He finished his tour, and then did another. When
he got back he decided to go into business. Let me say he's pretty well
diversified.
“I need to reach out anyway. He was a skinny Italian kid. I

remember he tried Catholicism for a bit. That didn't do it for him, so
he never went back. Like me and the synagogue. I dabbled. Neither
one of us went in for the religious stuff. After the Rapture and two
people went right before my eyes, I knew I'd missed the boat and the
true Messiah was indeed Jesus.”
“That's all very fascinating in light of Daniel's seventieth week
prophecy,” Gary remarked. “Jeremiah called it the time of Jacob's
trouble. Jacob's name was of course changed by the Lord to Israel. It
has well been said, the time of the Tribulation is about the salvation of
the Jewish nation. The prophetic clock for Israel paused in the first
century to give the gentile nations some grace and mercy. A chance to
be adopted in to God's family. In Romans it talks about it somewhere.
Up till the Rapture it was the times of the gentiles. Then the Jews are
grafted back in to the place vacated by the church.”
“Here it is,” Nathan said, looking at his phone. “That's Romans
chapter eleven.”
“Right.” Then Gary asked Andy, “How much do you know about
Jewish history and tradition?”
“Enough to be dangerous. Not as much as I would like, or should.
A few years ago when they started testing DNA markers in Israel to
find the tribe of Levi for the priesthood, I thought it'd be a kick if I
were of that tribe. I had some lab work done, but nope. Not a Levite.”
“How'd it come out?” Sandy asked.
“It turns out I'm from the tribe of Benjamin, predominantly.”
“I know that name,” Nathan said.
“Hm. A member of Benjamin's line right here during the
Tribulation,” Gary pondered.
“It's all so fascinating,” Sandy remarked. To Andy she asked, “How
soon do you think you can get a hold of your friend?”
Behold WRATH 67
The Full Complete version is
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Look for Book Two: “Behold The Beast” (coming in 2022) and
Book Three: “Behold The King”

Also from Dave Reynolds (the book found in Cassie’s room):
Prophecy: From Now On...

a layman's guide to Bible prophecy
links on
DavidDReynolds.wixsite.com/simpleanddirect
Available on Amazon and other retail outlets.
“SHIFT” is a sort of unofficial prequel to the Revelation Series that

introduces Sandy and Cassie.
https://www.amazon.com/Shift-David-D-
Reynolds/dp/1545052433

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Behold WRATH – Revelation Series Book One

“Really, really enjoying this. And it is so appropriate at this time.”

“Thank you…! I believe your gift is from His Majesty on high!”

“Thank you for your efforts and keeping it clear.”

“Your writings are a wonderful reminder of how grateful I am for my

Nathan fidgeted in the auditorium seat. Next to him sat Cassie

Several people laughed.

doing it again.’ Make sense?”

…the hour of trial that is coming on the whole

floor. Shockproof nurses hurried about on various tasks. A gurney

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep,

Sandy’s next thought concerned Cassie, now away at college. Sandy

would parry with humor as their weapon of choice, not so much

flowed without restraint in her veins approximating a sensation of

Within her hospital room before the wall-mounted television with

what you need. Sorry.”

“…but the dead in Christ shall rise first.” (1

sometimes, but maybe not enough.

past encounters, we have a strong working theory about all this...”

a mission to heal us. Probably to bring us in to their intergalactic

He smiled back. “Yes! Yeah from college.” His smile wavered as he

we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on

Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking

“I gotta get some air.”

called it a synchromatic dysplasia caused by a fouled up

foxholes, there are always worshippers in tragedy.

know how much time you have left.”

He makes a promise, He keeps it. Therefore, He will wipe those armies

Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, [Like

make a strong covenant [a contract or treaty] with many for

moving and all… But I take it this is important to us now?”

not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or

“Amen!” Nathan interjected. Gary nodded and continued:

“Not everyone,” Nathan advised. “I went back to the hole-in-the-

But stay awake at all times, praying that you

greeted Williams, all professional-like.

was at the scene.”

“I mean, not your Thai place. Ours. My friend's house. Her

I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no

At the Johnson household, everyone was in the dining room around

A couple of people chuckled, but it was the nervous type. So much

For what seemed countless minutes, no one spoke. The weight of

“I need to reach out anyway. He was a skinny Italian kid. I

The Full Complete version is

available October 1, 2021

Please offer a Review, share away, and sign up

To the Mailing List. Or alternatively, shoot my an email and say

Add your Review and comments to the Amazon page

Follow Dave on facebook.com/AuthorDavidDReynolds

Get on the Mailing List to get updates:

Book Three: “Behold The King”

Prophecy: From Now On...

“SHIFT” is a sort of unofficial prequel to the Revelation Series that

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