Fiction - Week 15 - A Fiasco in a Restaurant.

All characters in this story are fictitious and bear no resemblance to any person, living or dead.

A story based on Biblical truth.

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The group of Christian believers at their church hideout in Egham couldn't take their eyes off the laptop Phil Banks had installed for them. Footage showing the furious Gaius Caligula, with the help of his assistant, Elijah, mustering a huge army to round up the Jews who had taken refuge around the Petra area of Jordan, and beyond.

According to the endless chain of news bulletins aired around the world, around 860,000 Jews had fled Jerusalem in terror of the world leader and his golden statue miracle, which took place at the Temple Mount. 860,000 was a very large number, although still far fewer than the population of Greater London, which, after the Rapture, stands between nine and 9.2 million inhabitants. Hence, it was discovered that they occupied a mountain desert area in southern Jordan, in and around Petra, southeast of the Dead Sea, in the region of Biblical Edom.

In the days that followed, Caligula mustered a huge army, mainly from Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon.  As they assembled, along with all the necessary weaponry, they began to head towards the mountainous area of southern Jordan. Caligula's intention was to massacre all the Jews who rejected him as their Messiah, and to wipe Israel off the map.

Back in Egham, Peter exclaimed, He is mad! He is totally off his rocker! The Jews had rejected Caligula, and now he wants to flood the land with their blood.

I then asked, Do you think that all the Jews on this planet will be eliminated?

No! No! That can't be! Emily gasped, with the rest of the group expressing the same surprise.

Peter then answered, Before the Rapture, I studied theology at Loughborough University. This included the final destiny of Israel in human history.

Please explain. John Bates said.

Peter explained, In Zechariah 13:8, there is a prophecy that two-thirds of all the Jews in the land will perish, while the remaining third will face tribulation, and they will mourn for whom they have pierced when Christ sets foot on the Mount of Olives.

During my studies, I learned that world Jewry statistics were between 24 and 25 million. Around 9.5 million Jews lived in Israel, their Biblical homeland. By examining their beliefs, it was discovered that those living in Israel tended to be more faithful to God and their Scriptures. These thousands who had fled to Jordan are the ones most likely to turn to Christ for salvation and mourn for him whom their fathers have pierced, that is, had crucified.

Then the other 16-plus million still living around the world, would they accept Caligula's mark? I asked.

Peter's face dropped, and he looked at the floor in front of him for a moment. It looks that way. He admitted. All prophecy must be fulfilled, and since Scripture can't be broken, that's exactly how it looks. Either Caligula will kill them for being merely Jews, or they will die by divine judgment, leaving the Antichrist powerless to protect them.

I then said, According to Revelation 12, John sees a pregnant woman wearing a crown of twelve stars, dressed with the sun, and with the moon under her feet. I recall the words spoken first by Joseph, then by Jacob in Genesis 37, verses 9 and 10, revealing the sun, the moon and the eleven stars bowing down to Joseph. Those symbols represent the nation of Israel. The sun is Jacob himself. The moon is Rachel, Jacob's wife and mother of Joseph. The twelve stars are the twelve tribes of Israel.

John's symbolic vision of Israel.

In John's vision, he sees a heavily pregnant woman chased by the serpent, the Devil himself, and waiting to devour the child as soon as he is born. The child, their Messiah, is born and taken up to heaven. Then the woman is airlifted to a safe place. The serpent then spills water from its mouth in an attempt to drown the woman, but instead, the earth itself opens, and all the water spills down into the fissure.

John then contributed, During one of our Bible studies here, we looked at how Korah, his mates and their families rebelled against Moses in the desert. That is found in Numbers 16, especially verses 26-34. We read that the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them all, along with their goods.

Emily then asked, How is this parallel to this Revelation vision?

Peter answered, The 'water' from the mouth of the serpent, or should I say, the dragon, must be a symbol representing an army of troops. Since the dragon is an invisible spirit, he must be represented by a human commanding these troops. Who is a more suitable candidate than Caligula himself? If all this is true, they too will be swallowed up by a fissure, just as Korah, his mates, and their families were. However, Caligula will survive the ordeal himself. This suggests that he will command the massacre from his base in Jerusalem.

He seems to get away with it all. John said.

Heh! Peter answered. Just wait until Jesus turns up and confronts him face to face! Caligula won't be laughing then! 

                                                                       10

Phil Bank's train journey from Egham to London Waterloo was uneventful. The train pulled into the terminus on time, and Phil alighted. He checked his right hand. He had replaced the glove with the antiseptic while still on the train. The station was almost deserted, with just a few people milling around. Phil rightly believed most of those who took the Clover Leaf were still recovering from the infection due to a plentiful supply of antibiotics administered in the same marquees where the Mark was tattooed on everyone who gave allegiance to Caligula. 

Phil didn't feel the need to hurry. Instead of boarding a tube train, he decided to walk to his destination over the Golden Jubilee Footbridge running parallel to Hungerford Railway Bridge carrying trains into Charing Cross Station. From the parapet, he would enjoy the view of the river flowing beneath him, its constant tidal flows unaware of any worldly troubles, at least for now. Further downstream, he saw the dome of St Paul's Cathedral, and he wondered whether a Christian group was using it as a hideaway.

Phil enjoyed a view of the Thames from the parapet.

But he wasn't concerned. Instead, he reached the North Bank, passing the entrance of Embankment Station below. He then passed through a brick tunnel leading to Charing Cross Station. He remembered an elderly neighbour telling him about that tunnel when he was a student. Back in those days it stank of urine, and homeless war veterans, drunk on meths, used to sleep in the wall recesses, which shielded them from the cool draft. Then the recesses were ramped with brickwork, preventing the vagrants from settling. It's been clean and odour-free ever since.

When Phil exited the station and found himself on the Strand, he thought, Damn! He realised that he should have crossed the River Thames at Westminster Bridge, not over Hungerford Bridge. Travel wasn't his forte. He knew how prone he was to take the wrong direction. However, he knew how to correct his error as he wasn't in a hurry.

From the terminus, he made his way to Whitehall, a wide street leading from the south side of Trafalgar Square. Briefly, he turned to look up Nelson's Column before proceeding towards the Cenotaph. He arrived at the crossroads with Bridge Street, and turned onto it without crossing any road. His destination was right there, an imposing building facing the Elizabeth Tower and the Houses of Parliament.

Phil entered and passed through security; he took a lift to the upper floor. He entered a room with a group of men in business suits around a table. It was a secret boardroom only a few knew about.

The board's chairman rose and greeted Phil.

Good day, Mr Banks. What have you got to show us?

Phil opened his briefcase and took out a computer memory chip. Here, plug this in.

Once plugged in, the footage displayed the Church of John the Baptist in Egham and the daily lives of the twelve residents hiding from Caligula's presence. None of them displayed the Clover Leaf mark; they read and studied the Bible, they prayed, and they edified each other. The whole group was a commune of Christian believers who refused the Mark.

The Chairman then announced, You will direct us there. We will arrest and detain them all. Then we'll decide their fate.  

  

Phil gasped. You mean you want me to be another Judas Iscariot?

Yes! The chairman answered. That was why we sent you there to live with them for a while. We are your paymasters, and you report everything you know to us.

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To be Continued.