Glorious Appearing: The End Of Days Read Online Free PDF Page A

Muslim Quarter or the Temple Mount, knowing that if he found him anywhere else, Buck was likely dead. If only Mac could “capture” Buck and convincingly drag him out of the Old City …
    Unity Army foot soldiers were filling the west side of the Church of the Flagellation, avoiding the other side, which was taking fire from the rebels. A GC commander shouted that the assembled were to be ready to storm the Pools of Bethesda after the next artillery volley.
    “The rebels have apparently constructed a makeshift shrine to a dead rabbi there. They’ll be easy to spot. The body is hidden, but they have surrounded it with personnel and cardboard signs pleading that no one defile his resting place. We’re less than five minutes from a mortar launch that will obliterate that whole site. We will shell the enclave in such a way that there will be no escape through the Lion’s Gate to the east. Survivors will be pushed north toward Herod’s Gate, and we’ll be right behind them. The gate they have so ferociously held since yesterday they will now open themselves.”
    The commander assigned various troops and platoons, some to follow the shelling of the pools and others to attack the fleeing rebels as they headed toward Herod’s Gate.
    Mac racked his brain. There was no escaping now. He was deep inside this. While he would not, of course, fire upon the Unity Army’s enemies, neither could he risk being seen shooting GC forces. Surely it was Tsion’s remains the rebels were foolishly trying to protect, and he couldn’t imagine Buck having a part in that. Buck would have tried to entomb the body, but he would know the futility and meaninglessness of staying to guard it.
    Was there a prayer that in the midst of the chaos Mac could raise his visor and be identified as a believer by even one of the rebels? Not all were believers themselves, of course. He could be seen by one and shot by another. What was he doing here? His odds were infinitely smaller than he dreamed, and getting worse every second.
    “Come, Lord Jesus.”
    Chang had broadcast the S. M. Lockridge presentation all over the world, having hacked into the Global Community’s broadcast center. The GC had been getting better at countering such invasions, but the sermon was short enough that it was over by the time they reacted. Chang also monitored the reaction to the message by those assembled at Petra.
    Naomi said, “It’s time to step out into the sun to see for yourself.”
    “I’m kind of locked in here,” he said.
    “There’s nothing more you can do now,” she said. “And you don’t want to be inside when Jesus comes, do you?”
    He looked at his watch. “If the elders are right, we’ve still got some time. Believe me, I’ll be out there before four. I’ll tell you what’s most bizarre about all this: the reports from all over the globe that Carpathia won’t allow to be broadcast.”
    “Everybody crying over the destruction of Babylon?”
    “Exactly. They have no clue what’s coming, so they can’t think of anything worse than that.”
    “But look,” she said, pointing to the screen monitoring the Petra crowd. “Hundreds, maybe thousands, are kneeling. Let’s go see if they need people to counsel or—”
    “In a minute. Let me show you some of these . . . look.”
    But in the reflection of the screen, Chang saw her leaving. Her priorities were right, he knew, and he stood to follow. He quickly realized how long he had been sitting in one spot. He ached head to toe and stretched as he continued to watch his screens. “I should check with Mr. Smith!” he called out.
    “He knows your number,” Naomi shot back.
    “I’ll be right with you,” he said.
    “I’m not waiting.”
    “I’ll find you.”
    “I hope so.”
    From New York, Brussels, London, Buenos Aires, the Persian Gulf, Tokyo, Beijing, Toronto, Moscow, Johannesburg, New Delhi, Sydney, Paris, and other major cities came the laments of those in power. As they began their