The Left Behind Collection: All 12 Books (273 page)

Just before midnight in Chicago only Rayford and Tsion were awake. All were excited about the expected return of Buck and Albie and their next new member, Ming Toy. Chloe and Leah asked to be awakened as soon as the chopper arrived.

Tsion had been working all day on a new, though brief, message. “I’m about to transmit it,” he told Rayford. “But I’d appreciate your looking at it. It’s an interesting study, but it’s not for the beginners. We have hundreds of thousands of new believers joining our ranks every day, but I have to think also about moving the more mature ones from milk to meat. Perhaps the day will come when someone like Chaim can take over the teaching of the newest.”

Rayford eagerly accepted Tsion’s hard copy, always feeling privileged when he was among the first to get a glance at something a billion people would benefit from.

From your letters to the message board, I sense some questions about certain passages and doctrines, one of which I address today. I am most encouraged that you are reading, studying, curious, and that you so plainly want to learn and grow as believers in Messiah. If you have placed your trust in Christ alone for salvation by grace through faith, you are a true tribulation saint.

While we all rejoice in our new positions before God—we went from old to new, from death to life, from darkness to light—no doubt all are sobered by the reality that we are living on borrowed time, now more than ever.

I have gathered from many that one of your loftiest goals is to survive until the Glorious Appearing. I share that longing but wish to gently remind you that that is not our all in all. The apostle Paul said that to live is Christ but that to die is gain. While it would be thrilling beyond words to see the triumphant Lord Christ return to the earth and set up his thousand-year reign, I believe I could learn to deal with it if I were called to heaven in advance and saw it from that perspective instead.

Beloved, our top priority now is not even thwarting the evils of Antichrist, though I engage in that effort every day. I want to confound him, revile him, enrage him, frustrate him, and get in the way of his plans every way I know how. His primary goal is ascendancy for himself, worship of himself, and the death and destruction of any who might otherwise become tribulation saints.

So, as worthy and noble a goal as it is to go on the offensive against the evil one, I believe we can do that most effectively by focusing on persuading the undecided to come to faith. Knowing that every day could be our last, that we could be found out and dragged to a mark application center, there to make our decision to die for the sake of Christ, we must be more urgent about our task than ever.

Many have written in fear, confessing that they do not believe they have the courage or the character to choose death over life when threatened with the guillotine. As a fellow pilgrim in this journey of faith, let me admit that I do not understand this either. In my flesh I am weak. I want to live. I am afraid of death but even more of dying. The very thought of having my head severed from my body repulses me as much as it does anyone. In my worst nightmare I see myself standing before the GC operatives a weakling, a quivering mass who can do nothing but plead for his life. I envision myself breaking God’s heart by denying my Lord. Oh, what an awful picture!

In my most hated imagination I fail at the hour of testing and accept the mark of loyalty that we all know is the cursed mark of the beast, all because I so cherish my own life.

Is that your fear today, friend? Are you all right as long as you are in hiding and somehow able to survive? But have you a foreboding about that day when you will be forced to publicly declare your faith or deny your Savior?

I have good news for you that I have already admitted is difficult to understand, even for me, who has been called to shepherd you and exposit the Word of God for you. The Bible tells us that once one is either sealed by God as a believer or accepts the mark of loyalty to Antichrist, this is a once-and-for-all choice. In other words, if you have decided for Christ and the seal of God is evident on your forehead, you cannot change your mind!

That tells me that somehow, when we face the ultimate test, God miraculously overcomes our evil, selfish flesh and gives us the grace and courage to make the right decision in spite of ourselves. My interpretation of this is that we will be
unable
to deny Jesus,
unable
to even choose the mark that would temporarily save our lives.

Isn’t that a blessed thought? I could no more do this in my flesh than I could swim the Pacific. I have heard stories of believers from the past who were asked at gunpoint to denounce their faith, and yet they stood firm, dying for it. I never envisioned myself with that kind of fortitude.

Even since writing to you last, I have heard the story of one who was among the first to face this test. We have no eyewitness account, no one to tell us how the scene unfolded. Yet we know that of all the people herded through the mark application process at this specific venue (which I naturally have to keep confidential), only one man rejected the mark. Knowing the consequences, he chose to die rather than to deny Jesus Christ.

My heart is broken for his loved ones. What an awful mental image to season one’s bereavement! And yet how thrilling to know that God was faithful! He was there at the darkest hour. And this beloved saint is one of the martyrs under the altar of God, his robe snow white.

As Antichrist and the false prophet spread their message of lies and hatred and false doctrine around the world, forcing millions to worship Satan himself by threatening to behead those who refuse, it would bode well for us if we would memorize a verse from John’s Revelation. In chapter 20 and verse 4, he writes as part of his God-given vision:

“Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”

Your loved ones who have been called to what the world would call an ignoble and gory end shall return with Christ at his Glorious Appearing! They shall live and reign with him for a thousand years! Glory be to God the Father and his Son, Jesus the Christ!

And as for you and me, my friend: might we be among those? Oh, the privilege!

Revelation 14:12-13: “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, ‘Write: “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.’”

And what of those who enjoy for a season the favor of the ruler of this world? What of those who avoid the guillotine and seem to prosper? As rousing as the Scriptures can be for those who are washed in the blood of the Lamb, look how fearful it can be for those who choose their own way. In Revelation 14:9-11, John quotes an angel, “saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.’”

You don’t have to be a Bible scholar to understand that.

Now, precious brothers and sisters, let me try to make plain some passages that have resulted in questions from many of you. In Psalm 69:28, the psalmist pleads with the Lord concerning his enemies: “Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.”

Exodus 32:33 says, “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.’”

These references naturally have caused some to fear that they can lose their salvation. But my contention is that the book referred to in those is the book of God the Father, into which are written the names of every person he created.

The New Testament refers to the Book of Life of the Lamb, and we know that the Lamb is Jesus, for he is the one John the Baptist was referring to (John 1:29) when he said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

Jesus the Christ came into the world to save sinners, and thus the Book of Life of the Lamb is the one in which are entered the names of those who have received his gift of eternal life.

The most important difference between these two books is that it is clear a person can have his name blotted out of the Book of the Living. But in Revelation 3:5, Jesus himself promises, “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”

The overcomers he is referring to are those clothed in the white garments of Christ himself, guaranteeing that their names cannot be blotted out of the Book of Life of the Lamb.

To me the Book of the Living is a picture of the mercy of God. It is as if in loving anticipation of our salvation, he writes every person’s name in that book. If one dies without trusting Christ for salvation, his name is blotted out, because he is no longer among the living. But those who have trusted Christ have been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, so that when they die physically, they remain alive spiritually and are never blotted out.

Rayford had to admit to himself that he had also worried about his own response if he were to face the guillotine. He wanted to be true and faithful to the one who died for him, and he wanted to see his family again. But if he failed and proved a coward, he had wondered whether he would lose his standing before God.

“Tsion,” he said, “I wouldn’t change a word. This will uplift and comfort millions. It sure helped me.”

David couldn’t sit still. How was he going to pull this off? Maybe he should act uninterested in Chang as an employee. Would anybody fall for that? He stood and paced, straightening his tie and buttoning his uniform jacket.

When Moon, Mr. Wong, and Chang finally arrived, David was disconcerted at Chang’s appearance. A slight, fair-skinned seventeen-year-old, he wore khakis, a plain shirt, a light jacket zipped to the neck, and a red baseball cap pulled low over his eyes. He was clearly angry, his eyes darting everywhere but at David.

Moon and Mr. Wong were giddy, laughing, talking loudly. “Ever see a boy so afraid?” Mr. Wong said.

“Can’t say I have!”

Tiffany ushered them in, and David shook hands, first with Walter, then Mr. Wong, who said, “Hat off for meeting, Chang.”

For the first time since he had seen them interact at the Carpathia funeral, David saw Chang ignore his father. The elder reddened and lost his smile, then faked one, pumping David’s hand. “Made hat come off for picture!”

Moon laughed at the memory of it, whatever it was.

David thrust his hand toward Chang, who ignored it. He stood looking down. His father nearly exploded. “Shake hands with boss, Chang!”

The boy lazily reached out, but he did not grip when David did, and it was like shaking a fish. David thought he saw a tear slide next to the boy’s mouth. Maybe this was for the best. If David were to try to bust him out of the place in a few days, it would be better if they didn’t act civil to each other.

Walter Moon said, “He is risen.”

Mr. Wong and David responded, “He is risen indeed.” David was startled to hear Chang mutter, “Christ is risen indeed.”

Chang may have considered that godly courage, but David saw it as teenage recklessness. No one else seemed to have heard it.

“Sit, please, gentlemen,” David said. “I’d like to spend time alone with the candidate, but it’s probably just as well you’re both here, Chief Moon and Mr. Wong. I’ve been studying the personnel manual, and frankly, I don’t see any way around the age issue.”

“Age issue?” Mr. Wong said, looking stricken. “What’s that?”

“Good,” Chang said and rose to leave.

“Sit! Mind manners! You guest here and interview for position!”

Chang slowly plopped back, slouching and crossing his feet.

Moon dismissed David’s concern with a gesture. “His Excellency has already waived that, and—”

“The policy allows no exceptions,” David pressed.

“David,” Walter said slowly, reminding him of the way he had just heard Carpathia speak to Moon, “the potentate
is
policy. If he determines that this young man and his off-the-charts intellect and computer savvy will be valuable to the Global Community, then it’s a done deal.”

David took a breath, deciding to go on the offensive.

But Moon wasn’t finished. “You’re aware that Potentate Carpathia has already cleared Chang to finish his last year of high school here, and of course we then offer college classes as well.”

“I was under the impression the school here was for the benefit of the
children
of employees,” David tried.

“I don’t think the teachers care who the students’ parents are. Tell Mr. Wong what you are envisioning for Chang, David.”

Mr. Wong, grinning, leaned forward to drink it in.

Here goes nothing,
David thought. “I envision him finishing high school in China and at least beginning his career anywhere but here.”

Mr. Wong’s smile disappeared. “What?” he said, turning to Moon.

“David!” Walter said. “What the—”

“Look at him,” David said, and both men turned to see Chang staring at the floor, hands in his pockets.

“Sit up, boy. You know better. You shame me.”

Chang made a halfhearted effort to shift and raised his chin an inch, but he remained a picture of insolence. His father reached to tug at the shoulder of his jacket, and Chang wrenched away. Mr. Wong glowered at him.

“He doesn’t want to work here,” David said. “He’s young, immature, simply not ready. I don’t doubt his credentials or his potential, but let him work out the kinks on someone else’s money.”

“Now, let’s not be hasty, David,” Moon said. “The boy’s just been through a bit of a trauma. He was scared, but he went through with it, and he’s clearly still a little shaken.”

David cocked his head as if willing to consider the excuse. “Oh?”

“Yes,” Mr. Wong said. “He upset. He frightened of needle. Didn’t want injection. Scream. Cry. Try to get away, but we hold him down. He thank me someday. Maybe tomorrow.”

“And he needed an injection for what?”

“Biochip!” Mr. Wong announced proudly. “One of first to get it! See?”

He reached for the boy’s cap, but Chang stood again and turned his back on his father. David fought to maintain composure. Now what?
How
had he let this happen?

“When?” he blurted. “How?”

“This morning,” Walter said. “I was hoping they’d be ready for him. Took a photog along and everything. But they weren’t, not really. We were going to just wait till later, but they could see I had gone to a lot of trouble, so when the first unit was plugged in and ready to go, they tested it and then made him the first recipient here. Not sure the picture’s much good though. The boy wasn’t any happier there than here.”

David said, “Well, that’s . . . ah . . . that’s—”

“Something, huh?” Walter said. “I think the boy is glad to have it over with, and if he’s honest he’ll admit it didn’t hurt a bit.”

“I proud! Son will be soon, you’ll see. But he ready for work now. No age problem. No school problem. This is place for him.”

“Global Community maybe,” David said, his voice hollow. How was he going to explain this to Ming? “But not my department.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, David. We just explained his attitude. You and I both know there’s no better place for him.”

“Then you take him. I don’t want him. I don’t have the energy to try to win him over while training him.”

“I’m of a
mind
to take him, David. He’s going to make somebody look like a genius. It had might as well be me.”

David stood and spread his arms, palms up. “Good to see you all again.”

Chang started to rise, but his father stopped him with a hand. The man looked to Walter. “David, sit down,” Moon said. “Let us give you a few minutes with Chang, let him win you over.”

“There aren’t enough flowers or boxes of candy in the United Asian States.”

“Find out what’s troubling him. If it’s just the trauma of the procedure, he deserves another look. What do you say?”

“I suppose you’ll go running to the potentate if I don’t agree.”

Moon stood and motioned David to do the same. He reached for him across the desk and pulled David’s ear to his mouth. “This is no way for us to conduct ourselves in front of outsiders, particularly a patriotic GC supporter like Mr. Wong. You’re blamed right I’ll take this straight back to the top. Now you know Carp—His Excellency wants this boy on staff, so get with the program.” He let go of David and turned to Mr. Wong. “Let’s give them a few minutes to get acquainted.”

Mr. Wong bent to his son as he left. “You make proud, and I mean it.” But Chang looked away.

As soon as the door was shut, Chang stood and moved to the center chair facing David. He resumed his defiant posture. David sat and rested an elbow on the desk, chin in hand, staring at Chang, who did not meet his gaze. “Are the blinds open behind me?” the kid muttered, still looking away.

“Yes.”

“Close them.”

“That would send a wrong signal, Chang. If they’re watching, I want them to see me not liking you too much, which is exactly what I feel right now.”

“Are they still out there?”

“Yes.”

“Then either shut the blinds or tell me when they’re gone.”

“They’re leaving.”

“OK, then wait till they’re out of sight so you can close the blinds without sending them the wrong signal but I still don’t have to worry about anyone else coming by and looking in. Or your secretary.”

“Assistant.”

“Whatever. Tiffany, right?”

“Observant.”

“I don’t miss anything, like the fact that she’s not a believer.”

“I’m trying to figure out a way to work on that.”

It was maddening that Chang still sat slumped, looking down. “You can’t let her in on where you stand for fear she’ll turn you in.”

“Of course.”

“Could you shut the blinds, please?”

“Not till you tell me what in the world you think you’re up to.”

“I’ll wait,” Chang said.

David rose and closed the blinds. “What was I supposed to do, son? I didn’t know—”

As David returned to his side of the desk, Chang straightened up. “Don’t call me son. I hate that.” He whipped off his hat. “Look at me! Look what they did to me!”

David leaned over the desk to study Chang’s mark of loyalty. It was the first he had seen other than in a drawing. “That is strange,” he said.

“That’s news to me?”

“No, I mean, obviously it looks different to me and will to any fellow believers. We can see both marks. The seal of God is still there, Chang.” David could barely take his eyes off the small, black tattoo that read
30
and was followed by a half-inch pink scar that would fade to a darker line in a few days. “I still haven’t figured the significance of the prefixes,” David added.

“You serious?”

“Always.”

“Don’t tell me you don’t even know why Carpathia is so obsessed with 216.”

“Of course,” David said. “That was rather transparent. Easy.”

“Same basic logic as these. Ten different regions or sub-potentateships, as Carpathia likes to call them. We know them as kingdoms. Ten different prefixes, all related to Carpathia. I mean, the fact that one of them is 216 should have been your first clue.”

“Don’t tell me, Chang. I’ll get it.”

“Should have had it by now.”

“You can lighten up on me. I don’t know how I could have prevented this. Your little charade didn’t help. Your sister is going to kill me. And, assuming you want out of here as badly as Ming wants you out and as badly as the other four believers want out, how did that help?”

“Can you believe my father and Moon thought I pitched a fit because I was afraid of needles?”

“I’m glad you didn’t just scream out that you’re a believer.”

“Well, what am I now, Hassid?”

“You don’t like to be called son—don’t call me Hassid.”

“Sorry. What’s your pleasure?”

“Mr. Hassid or Director Hassid while we’re in here. Once we’re gone, Mr. or Brother will work.”

“You sound like an old guy.”

“That’s because you’re a young guy. As for what you are, with both marks you surely have to be in a special category.”

“But all that stuff Dr. Ben-Judah writes about, choosing between the seal of God and the mark of the beast. I chose, and I got both. Now what?”

David sat shaking his head. Chang cocked his head and pursed his lips. “It isn’t that I really don’t know,
Mr.
Hassid. I just keep testing you. Are you not as bright as they think you are, or are you just short on sleep? Can’t figure the prefixes, can’t figure—”

“First, I’m
not
as bright as they think I am, but I might surprise
you.
”

“I’m not trying to be disrespectful, sir. I’m really not. But you have already surprised me by how long it takes you to make things make sense.”

“I’ve also been under unusual pressure for months, and worse the last couple of weeks.”

“Yeah. I’m sorry about your, ah, were you engaged? Was she your fiancée?”

“Secretly, yes. Thanks.”

“That would put anybody off track for a while. That’s understandable.”

“So, you’re mad you got the mark, but you’ve already made some sense of it?”

Chang sat back and crossed his legs. “You know Ben-Judah personally, huh?”

“Haven’t met him, but we work together.”

“You have his phone number?”

“Of course.”

“Well, you might want to call him to confirm, or let me borrow the number and I’ll talk to him myself. . . . ”

“I don’t think so.”

“Fair enough. You call him then and see if I’m right. I’m a believer. That hasn’t changed. The Bible says nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, and that has to include our own selves. And God says we’re hidden in the hollow of his hand and that no one can pluck us out. I didn’t choose the mark. It was forced on me. I see nothing but benefits.”

“Then why the big scene?”

“I don’t figure
everything
out immediately. I sure didn’t
want
the mark. I was trying to figure a way to get out of it right up to the time they stuck me. I don’t have to like it, but what’s done is done, and a smart guy like you ought to be able to see the upside of this.”

“Tell me, oh great intellect.”

“So mock me. Forget it. I shouldn’t have to tell you anyway.”

David stood and moved to the front of the desk and sat atop it, his knees inches from Chang’s. “All right, listen. It’s obvious you’re a mental prodigy, mind like a steel trap, all that. I’d heard you were a Bible-memory freak, which is saying something when you can’t risk being caught with one. All that from reading it on the Net?”

Chang nodded.

David continued. “I’m not hung up on being the smartest guy in the room no matter where I am. That didn’t used to be so, especially when I was your age. I enjoyed not only overwhelming older people with my brain but letting them know that we both knew who was the king. You want me on the floor, kissing your feet? Fine. You’re the best. You’re smarter than I am. I’m a journeyman, a plugger compared to you. That what you want to hear? It doesn’t bother me that you’re a few steps ahead of me—it really doesn’t. What bothers me is your assuming it bothers me, because it would bother you if the shoe were on the other foot. Then I get defensive, trying to prove it doesn’t bother me, which only makes it appear that it does. You following this?”

Chang smiled. “Yeah, I got it.”

“So enlighten me and quit trying to rub it in. What are you going to do with this ‘advantage,’ as you call it, being bi-loyal for lack of a better term? And how does acting angry with me help that cause, whatever it is?”