The Remnant:
On the Brink of Armageddon
Book 10 of the Left Behind Series
I am sure you agree with me that there is no future in such diplomacy.
I have nothing to offer in exchange for the millions of human lives lost, not to mention the beauty and the richness of the plant and animal life.
You may rest assured that my top people are at work to devise a remedy to this tragedy, but it will not include deals, concessions, or any acknowledgment that these people had the right to foist on the world such an unspeakable act.
In the middle of that newscast, from Chang through Buck, came a reproduction of the conversation between Suhail Akbar and the two pilots from the Petra bombing raid.
Though the GCNN tried to speak over it and stream words in front of it saying it was false, a hoax, anyone listening heard the pilots defending themselves to Akbar, and his order for their executions.
Rayford could not fathom how Carpathia could have a supporter left in the world, and yet it was clear that Scripture foretold he would.
At Petra the crowd grew restless and murmured among themselves about both the lies and the truth they had just been exposed to.
But the rumor was that Micah, the one who had led them out of Israel to this safe place, was about to emerge and introduce Dr.
Ben Judah.
Spontaneously, the entire crowd fell silent.
primarily, and whether you pray, raise your hands, or just point to the sky in acknowledgment of him, your adoration will be properly directed.
In the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John, our Lord, Jesus the Messiah, makes a promise we can take to the bank of eternity.
He says, `Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in me.
In my father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.
I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
Notice the urgency.
That was Jesus' guarantee that though he was leaving his disciples, one day he would return.
The world had not seen the last of Jesus the Christ, and as many of you know, it still has not seen the last of him.
Think with me now of the five paramount, pivotal events of history.
From Eden until this present moment, God has given us in the Bible an accurate history of the world, much of it written in advance.
It is the only truly accurate history ever written.
The first pivotal event was the creation of the world by the direct act of God.
Next comes the worldwide flood.
This flood had a catastrophic effect on the world and still boggles the minds of scientists who find fish bones at altitudes as high as fifteen thousand feet.
The third pivotal event in history was the first coming of Jesus the Messiah.
That event made possible our
salvation from sin.
Jesus lived a perfect life and died as a sacrifice for our sin.
He died for the sins of the world, for all those who would call upon him.
But that is not the end of the story, as we all know, because none of us here called upon him to forgive our sins until after the fourth pivotal event in history when he came back.
Most of us have since rectified that situation, and it is a good thing.
Both the Old and the New Testaments of the Bible point to his coming one last time the fifth pivotal event in world history.
This glorious appearing will signal the beginning of the millennial kingdom, true utopia.
Imagine paradise on earth with Messiah in control.
Many believe that during his thousand year reign, which will begin less than three and a half years from now, the population will grow to greater than the number of all the people who have already lived and died up to now.
How can that be? Because ours will be a world without war.
Imagine a globe in which government will not be responsible for killing the nearly 200 million.
it has slain to this day.
Serving God has never been the choice of mankind.
But when Messiah returns, he will establish his kingdom and people will live at peace.
We will live in righteousness.
We will have plenty.
It is difficult to describe what an incredible time it will be.
Everyone will have enough.
God wants this kind of a world, and he wants it for us for one reason: He is gracious.
In the Bible, Joel 2:13 says he is merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in
loving kindness.
He relents from doing harm.
Jonah, 125 years after Joel was born, described God in the same words.
And Moses, fifteen hundred years before these men lived, said the Lord is merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.
Those are the prophets' views of God.
Where do you get your view of God? What better picture of him could we have gotten than what we lived through yesterday? When you kneel to pray, remember that event and what the prophets have said.
Yes, we have an august God the only supreme, omnipotent potentate.
But if the Bible teaches one thing about God, it is that he is for us.
He is not against us.
He wants to bless our lives, and the key to the door of blessing is to give your life to him and ask him to do with it as he will.
How could you not love the God the prophets describe? How could you not love the God Jesus the Messiah refers to as our Father who is in heaven? t How wonderful it is that we can come as children into the presence of God himself, the creator of every thing, and call him our Father.
We find ourselves enduring the worst period in human history.
Sixteen of the prophesied judgments of
God have already rained down upon the earth, each worse than the last, with five yet to go.
The Antichrist has been revealed, as has the False Prophet.
That is why r Messiah referred to this period as the Tribulation, and the second half of it in which we now find ourselves as the Great Tribulation.
How can I say this judging, avenging God is loving and merciful? Remember that during this period he is working in people to get them to make a decision.
Why? The millennium is coming.
When Jesus makes his final glorious appearing, he will come in power and great glory.
He will set up his kingdom exclusively for those who have made the right decision.
That decision? To call on the name of the Lord.
Does that sound exclusivistic? Understand this: The Bible makes clear that the will of God is that all men be saved.
Second Peter 3:9 says, `The Lord is not slack concerning his promise's
but is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
' God promised in Joel 2 that he would `show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the remnant whom the Lord calls.
' Dear people, you are that remnant! Do you see what God is saying? He is still calling men to faith in Christ.
He has raised up 144,000 evangelists, from the twelve tribes, to plead with men and women all over the world to decide for Christ.
Who but a loving, gracious, merciful, long suffering God could plan in advance that during this time of chaos he would send so many out in power to preach his message? Remember the two supernatural witnesses who preached the Word of God in Jerusalem and on global television? After three and a half years they were murdered in full view of the whole world.
And then after their bodies lay in the streets for three days, God called them to heaven.
Why? Because as a loving and merciful God he wanted to manifest his power and glory so men and women could see and make the right decision about him.
Here we have the supernatural God of heaven fulfilling his promises of ages past, preserving the children of Israel while Antichrist tries to persecute you.
Whom will you serve? Will you obey the ruler of this world, or will you call on the name of the Lord? God has done all these great and mighty things because he wants to save mankind.
Many will still rebel, even here, even after all they have seen and experienced.
Do not let it be you, my friend.
Our God is merciful.
Our God is gracious.
He is long suffering and wants all to be saved.
If you agree that God is using the period we now live in to get people ready for the millennial kingdom and for eternity, what will you do with your life? Turn it over to Messiah.
Worship Jesus, the Christ.
Receive him as the one and only Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.
Receive him into your life and then live in obedience to him.
He wants you.
And a God who will go to such lengths to save to the uttermost anyone who will call on him is one worth trusting.
Will you trust a God like that? Can you love a God like that?
Messiah was born in human flesh.
He came again.
And he is coming one more time.
I want you to be ready.
We were left behind at the Rapture.
Let us be ready for the Glorious Appearing.
The Holy Spirit of God is moving all over the world.
Jesus is building his church during this darkest period in history because he is gracious, loving, long suffering, and merciful.
All around Rayford, people had bowed their heads, and many began praying.
They prayed for friends and loved ones in Petra and in other places in the world.
They had to have heard, as Rayford did, the emotion in Tsion's voice as he pleaded once again for all to make the decision to follow Christ.
The time is short, Tsion cried out, and salvation is a personal decision.
Admit to God that you are a sinner.
Acknowledge that you cannot save yourself.
Throw yourself on the mercy of God and receive the gift of his Son, who died on the cross for your sin.
Receive him and thank him for the gift of your salvation.
Major, major problem, Aurelio Figueroa said, steepling his fingers as he leaned back in his chair.
Chang sat across the desk from him, praying silently.
It's not just the bogus entries in the palace database, the phony personnel and checks and balances that have allowed the enemies of the GC to fool local leaders.
Now we clearly have bugs in offices as high as the director of Security and Intelligence.
Do you know that earlier today, while the potentate was trying to properly mourn our dead pilots, someone superseded the feed with a bogus conversation Director Akbar was supposed to have had with the pilots? Bet you're glad it was bogus.
I don't follow, Wong.
If it was real, it could have been catastrophic.
We all heard it, sir.
Akbar lecturing the pilots, their disagreeing, and his having them executed.
The tall, bony Mexican studied Chang.
Where would someone have gotten that kind of a recording?You're asking me?I don't see anyone else in the room.
I'm sorry.
I should have said, `Why are you asking me This was zero hour.
If Figueroa accused him, Chang might have to be out of New Babylon within hours to avoid execution.
I'm asking everyone, of course.
Don't take it personally.
You wouldn't believe what's been planted on the main database.
Tell me.
Figueroa stood.
I'm not telling everyone this, but Akbar himself began to suspect something shaky in Chicago.
You know the place was hit more than once during the war.
The city was evacuated and declared off limits, and we have virtually ignored it for months.
Years.
Chang nodded.
We didn't fly reconnaissance planes over it, didn't take pictures, didn't check heat sensors, anything.
Because? Because someone planted on the computer that the place had been nuked and would be radioactive for years.
Akbar didn't remember it that way.
He thought the city had been virtually destroyed, but not by nukes.
Every time he had somebody check, they went straight to the database, checked the current levels, and said, `Yup, it's radioactive all right.
' Not until recently did anybody check the archives to find out if the readings could be right.
Of course, they can't.
The place is clean.
Wow.
Wow is right.
You know as well as I do that there is only one reason someone would plant such information: to have the city to themselves.
We've been able to bypass the phony readings, finally, and have tried to get a bead on what's happening there.
Precious little, of course, because everyone else was getting the same info we were.
But there has been activity.
Water and power usage.
Planes, choppers, coming and going.
Jets from an airstrip on the lake.
That would be Lake Michigan.
Really? Yes.
There is evidence of both vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
Very little, of course, but there could be up to three dozen people in the city.
Hardly enough to worry about, Chang said.
Oh, on the contrary, Figueroa said.
These people are going to wish they'd never been born.
Chang was dying to ask but desperate to appear remote.
He waited.
You'd think we'd just send a team of Peacekeepers sweeping in there and round them up, wouldn't you? Chang shrugged.
Something like that, sure.
Akbar has a better idea.
He says if somebody wants it to appear radioactive, let's nuke it.
You can't be serious.
Totally.
Waste technology like that at a time like this?It's brilliant, Chang.
It's a solution, I'll say that.
But has he thought of the freshwater that flows through there?We're harvesting Lake Michigan from northern Wisconsin.
We don't have to worry about the Chicago River.
People living downstream from it do.
Well, anyway, word is the big boss loves the idea.
Really.
You kidding? Carpathia uh, the potentate loves stuff like this.
We've got an atomic bomb we can spare?Come on, Wong! Whoever these people are, they're up to no good.
If they were loyal citizens, wouldn't they say, Hey, we didn't know this place was off limits and we mistakenly settled here, and you know what, we're okay'? Chang shrugged, wanting to know how much time he had to warn the Trib Force but not daring to ask.
I guess.
You guess? There's no record of a loyalty mark application site there, of course.
And nobody who's registered with us would live there without telling us.
You're right.
'Course I'm right.
Hey, Chang, you don't look so good.
Chang had been surreptitiously holding his breath and not blinking.
His face had reddened and his eyes watered.
Just tired, he said, exhaling finally.
And I think I'm coming down with something.
You all right? Chang coughed, then pretended he couldn't stop.
He held up a hand as if to apologize and say he was okay.
Didn't sleep that well last night, he managed.
I'll be fine.
I'll go to bed early tonight.
You need a nap?Nah.
Too much to do.
we're okay.
Take a break.
I couldn't.
why not?want to do my share, pull my weight, all that.
He disintegrated into a coughing spell again.
Just knock off early.
You've got sick time left, don't you?Just used some during the, you know, plague thing.
Boils? Yeah, didn't we all? Take the rest of the day off, and if you're not in tomorrow, I'll understand.
No, now really, Mr.
Figueroa, I'll be fine.
See? I feel better already.
what is it with you, Wong? I mean, I'm all for gungho, but Just don't like being a wimp.
You're anything but that.
Thanks, Chang said, covering his mouth and coughing longer than he had before.
Stop by Medical and get something.
Chang waved Figueroa off.
I'm going back to my desk, he wheezed.
No, you're not.
Now that's a directive.
You're making me leave work early?Come on! You think I'm thinking only of you? Get over yourself.
I don't want a department full of coughers, and I think you've contaminated my office enough too.
Get going.
I really Chang! Go! It was the crack of dawn in Colorado, and Steve Plank, aka Pinkerton Stephens, was asleep in his quarters.
He had spent until midnight firing off warnings to his friends in the Tribulation Force that something big was coming for Chicago and that if they knew what was good for them, they would escape, and fast.
He had reached Rayf ord Steele by phone in Petra and urged him to stay there and not let Abdullah Smith or anyone else go back to Chicago either.
When the insistent banging on his door woke him, his first thought was that in his haste he had not used a secure phone or that his computer had been bugged.
If they caught him, they caught him.
Warning the Trib Force was the most productive thing he'd done since becoming a believer or at least since helping them get Hattie Durham out of his custody and to a place where she became a believer.
Plank tried to call out to see who it was and what they wanted, but his facial appliance was next to the bed, and without it, he could not make himself heard.
The best he could do was grunt, and he felt for the plastic pieces in the dark.
Mr. Stephens, sir, no need to open the door.
It was easily Medvedev, Steve's second in command.
I just wanted to give you fair warning.
New Babylon is cracking down on the handful of employees around the world who have not yet received the loyalty mark.
You're expected to have yours applied by noon mountain time at Carpathia Resurrection Field.
Just acknowledge that you got that.
Steve slung himself into his motorized wheelchair and rolled to the door, then tapped twice on it.
Thank you, sir.
This puts me in an awkward spot, but I've been ordered to accompany you and see to it.
Steve rolled back to the bed stand and quickly snapped on his appliances.
Hold on a second, easily! He opened the door and waved him in.
I'm sorry, sir, the Russian said.
What could I do or say?Tell them I already have it.
There's no record of it.
You know it cannot be applied to synthetic.
You want to see it? Plank began to unsnap the forehead piece.
No! Please! Now, sir, I'm sorry, but I tried looking once, and that was more than enough.
Forgive me.
well, I'm going to see if the administrator of the marks wants a look, Steve said.
Come, sir, there'd be a record, wouldn't there?I should be exempted.
Can you imagine the pain of having it applied to the membrane Please! I was told to inform you and to See to it, yeah, I know.
Sir? Why don't you just have it applied to your hand? My hand? My hand, you say? You forget my hand was also donated to the cause? Steve held up the stub, and Vasily recoiled.
I am so stupid, he said.
Can you forget I Steve waved him off.
Don't worry about it.
When would you like to leave, sir? They open at eight and we're about an hour away.
I know how far away we are, Vasily.
of course.
I'll let you know.
when Medvedev left, Steve bowed his head, weeping.
God, what should I do? Bluff them? See if I can get a waiver? Is this it? Is it over? Can I be of no more service to the believers around the world? Steve spent the morning communicating with Chang in New Babylon, where it was late afternoon.
They worked frantically to come up with suggestions as to where the Chicago based Trib Force might go.
No one anywhere could take them all.
The Strong Building had been perfect, if only briefly.
Neither Chang nor Steve had yet been able to ascertain when the bombing of Chicago might commence, but clearly speed was of the essence.
Only after they had informed everyone and made their recommendations did Steve tell Chang what was happening with him.
I knew they were cracking down, Chang said, but I had no idea how soon.
Let me put in the database that you've had the mark applied.
I can copy you on the documentation.
Can't let you do that, brother.
Why? I just did it for a Co op flier the other day.
He didn't even know till it was done.
with the way they're watching at the palace right now? I go front no documentation one day to totally clear the next?It doesn't have to be at Resurrection.
I could say it came from anywhere.
Steve paused.
It was intriguing, enticing even.
But it didn't resonate.
Maybe if you'd thought of it before if it had just showed up, like an accident, like you did with the other guy.
But this would be like my choosing the mark.
I couldn't do that.
Then you're getting out of there, right? Where will you go and how will you get there? Should I send someone for you? appropriate a ride?It's not going to work, Chang.
That'll make you vulnerable.
And you know they've got to be watching me.
No one's on to me yet, Chang said.
I don't think they're even suspicious.
You need to keep it that way.
Can you get to Petra? There's a Co op flight out of Montana today.
I could have him I'll let you know, Chang.
I appreciate it, but it may be time to take my stand.
What are you saying?You know.
Oh, Steve, at least make them catch you.
We need you, man.
On the lam? What good would I be?We need everybody we can get.
Buck debated waking the Greek contingent and decided against it, though it meant more work for everyone else.
Chloe, Mac, Hannah, and Sebastian had staggered in during the wee hours.
Buck could tell Kenny was fascinated by all the activity.
People scurried everywhere, deciding what they absolutely had to have, packing small boxes, ignoring printouts, notes anything that was in a computer anyway.
The person allowed to take more than anyone else was Zeke.
There were things he simply could not do without: his files, his wardrobes, the tools of his trade.
Leah spent most of her time on a secure phone to Coop people all over the country.
She told Buck, Everyone is resigned to the fact that they may have to take a few people in, and they honestly seem honored, but no one is excited about it.
They are stretched to the limit for space and necessities as it is.
We have no choice, Leah.
It's time to call in the chips.
I hate to say it, but a lot of these people owe us nothing less.
We have run the Co op from here and provided them with stuff that keeps them alive.
Albie seemed glum.
And why not? Buck wondered.
The only place Albie could think of to go and wanted to go was back to A1 Basrah.
But I don't want to take a plane when so many of you have places to go.
Do what you have to, Albie, Buck said.
See if Leah can get you a ride with someone delivering supplies to Petra.
You know we'll be calling on you frequently.
You'd better, Albie said.
Enoch's people were under the building, checking vehicles, seeing how many were in running condition.
He had traded the privilege of choosing cars and SUVs as a concession against trying to get all thirty of the others from The Place onto planes.
Leah had already lined up for them several underground centers within driving distance, Enoch himself in Palos Hills, Illinois.
You know the danger of a caravan pulling out of here in broad daylight, Buck said.
I sure do.
But we also know the danger of being here when the GC hits.
Steve Plank had communicated to Vasily that he wanted to leave the GC compound at 11 A.M.
He spent much of the rest of the morning behind closed doors, agonizing in prayer.
Finally he called Buck.
What a strange turn, he thought.
Seeking solace and counsel from a young man who had once been his best and most challenging employee.
The glory days of Global Weekly were long gone.
Steve's news was met with silence.
Then a subdued Buck: Steve, don't do it.
Please.
You think I want to? C'mon, man! Don't get personal with me now, Buck.
I just wanted to say good bye.
well, I don't want to, all right? I've said enough good byes for one lifetime.
Anyway, we need you.
This is no time to be giving up.
Don't insult me.
I'll do what I have to, to keep you from this, Steve.
I had hoped for more from you.
I could say the same, Buck said.
You think I'm taking the easy way out? Don't do this to me.
What're you saying, Steve? That I'm supposed to just support you, wish you the best, say I'll see you on the flip side?That would help.
Tell me you trust my judgment.
When I think you've lost your mind? Steve sighed.
Buck, I've got no one else to call.
If I tell you that you can't talk me out of it and that's why I'm calling, will you just tell me you're with me?Of course I'm with you, but I'm not a coward, Buck.
You've seen me.
You know I should have died.
I was buried underground for almost a week.
I live in pain every hour of every day, but I've misled, I've conspired, I've finagled, I've double crossed the enemy every way I know how.
Well, there's something I won't do.
I won't run like a child and I won't deny Christ.
I know you won't.
well, that's something.
That wasn't so hard, was it? Don't tell me I have to like this, Steve.
will you pray for me? Of course, but I'd pray you come to your senses.
I'm going through with this, Buck.
And I won't pretend I'm not scared.
The GC considers this an oversight, a timing thing, something to do with my limitations.
But when they make it official, make me make my decision and take my stand, I don't want to fail God.
You won't.
He promises grace beyond measure and a peace that passes understanding.
I gotta tell ya, Buck, I'm not feeling any of that yet.
God, Buck began, but Steve could tell he had to compose himself before he could continue, please be with your child.
Give him your grace, your peace.
I confess I don't want him to do this.
I hate it.
I'm tired of losing people I love.
But if this is what you're calling him to do, give him courage, give him words, give him power over the enemy.
I pray that people who see this will be so moved that they will make the same choice.
Buck was so shaken that his comrades seemed to gather round him spontaneously.
When they learned what was
going on, they knelt and prayed for Steve.
Buck called Chang.
He'll be going to the center at Resurrection south of the Springs, Buck said.
Any chance they monitor that visually? They do.
Could that be transmitted here?I can do it.
I don't know why I want to see it, but I'll feel like I'm there with him.
Steve was aware of Vasily's double take when Steve rolled up in the parking lot in casual clothes.
In fact, less than casual.
He wore slip on shoes, khaki pants, and a white undershirt.
You're wondering about protocol, Steve said as Vasily lifted him into the car.
Vasily nodded.
I've learned not to question you, Chief.
Are you armed, my friend?Of course.
I'm not.
I can see that.
Steve reached out a hand to Vasily, who looked at it.
Shake, he said.
Sorry the hand isn't what it used to be.
Vasily touched it gingerly.
The name's Steve Plank.
Excuse me? You heard me.
Steve Plank? So, you were listening, as usual.
You know Global Weekly? Vasily appeared to have trouble concentrating.
What? The magazine? Sure.
We get it from New Babylon.
You remember when it was independent, before the disappearances ? Of course.
I was on the masthead.
The ? Masthead.
That list of the staff.
I was the boss the editorial boss, anyway.
And Steve told Vasily his story.
They were fifteen minutes from their destination when he finished.
Medvedev shook his head.
What am I supposed to do with that?Well, you don't need to arrest me.
You already have me in custody, and you're following orders.
You're taking me to the center.
And you will take the mark, continue to live as a secret enemy of the Global Community, and I am to look the other way because we have become friends?Have we, Vasily?I thought we had, but of course you have not trusted me with the truth until now.
If we are friends, you could do me a favor.
Let you go? Let you make a run for it? Where would you go?No.
I was thinking you might rather shoot me.
You're joking.
I'm not.
It would look good on your record.
Say what you want.
You found me out, worried I would escape, whatever.
I could not.
Well, I couldn't either.
Do myself in, I mean.
Not that I didn't give it some thought.
What are you asking me to do, short of shooting you? I am supposed to watch you die?You are to `see to it,' aren't you? Isn't that your assignment? Vasily sighed shakily and nodded.
You are not really going to go through with this, are you? Steve nodded.
I am.
Running would only put off the inevitable.
And you have to admit, I'm fairly recognizable.
That is not humorous to me.
Nor to me.
Vasily, I regret only that when you came to me it was already too late for you.
You had taken the mark, and proudly.
I'm not so proud of it anymore.
That is the tragedy of where we find ourselves.
I know.
You do?You think I do not sneak a look occasionally at the Ben Judah Web site? I know my decision is irreversible.
You wish it wasn't?I don't know.
I am not blind, not deaf.
I can see what's happening.
If I had to say right now, I would say I envy you.