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Authors: James Redfield
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and other apocalyptic events predicted in the Scriptures. And they know every one of these predictions,
so they spend their time watching world events very closely, waiting for the next event on the timetable.”
“What’s the next event?” I asked.
“A peace treaty in the Middle East that will allow the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. Sometime after that, according
to them, a massive rapture will begin among true believers, whoever they are, and they will be snatched off the face of the
Earth and lifted into Heaven.”
I stopped and looked at him. “They think these people will begin to disappear?”
“Yeah, that’s in the Bible. Then comes the tribulation, which is a seven-year period when all hell breaks loose for whoever
is left on Earth. Apparently everything is expected to fall apart: giant earthquakes destroy the economy; ocean levels destroy
many cities; plus rioting and crime and the rest of it. And then a politician emerges, probably in Europe, who offers a plan
to pull things back together, if, of course, he’s set up with supreme power. This includes a centralized electronic economy
which coordinates commerce in most parts of the world. To participate in this economy, however, and take advantage of the
automation,one has to swear allegiance to this leader and have a chip implanted in one’s hand, through which all economic interactions
are documented.
“This Antichrist at first protects Israel and facilitates a peace treaty, then attacks later, starting a world war that ultimately
involves the Islamic nations, Russia, and finally China. According to the prophecies, just as Israel is about to fall, the
angels of God swoop down and win the war, installing a spiritual utopia that lasts a thousand years.”
He cleared his throat and looked at me. “Walk through a religious bookstore sometime and look around; there are commentaries
and novels about these prophecies everywhere, and more coming out all the time.”
“Do you think these end-times scholars are correct?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. The only prophecy that’s being played out in this world is man’s greed and corruption.
Some dictator might rise up and take over, but it will be because he saw a way to take advantage of the chaos.”
“Do you think this will happen?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll tell you one thing. If the collapse of the middle class continues, and the poor get poorer and the
inner cities get more crime-infested and spread into the suburbs, and then on top of that we experience, say, a series of
big natural disasters and the whole economy crashes for a while, we’ll have bands of hungry marauders preying on the masses
and total panic everywhere. In the face of this kind of violence, if someone comes along and proposes a way to save us, to
straighten things out, asking only that we surrender some civil liberties, I have no doubt that we’ll do it.”
We stopped and drank some water from my canteen. Fifty yards ahead was the crow tree.
I perked up; far in the background I could detect the faint dissonance of the hum.
Joel’s eyes squinted in concentration, watching me closely. “What are you hearing?”
I turned around and faced him. “It’s a strange noise, a hum we’ve been perceiving. I think it may be some kind of experiment
going on in the valley.”
“What kind of experiment? Who’s conducting it? Why can’t I hear it?”
I was about to tell him more when we were interrupted by another sound. We listened carefully.
“That’s a vehicle,” I said.
Two more gray Jeeps were approaching from the west and heading toward us. We ran behind a patch of tall briers and hid, and
they passed within a hundred yards without stopping, heading southeast along the same path the earlier Jeep had followed.
“I don’t like this,” Joel said. “Who was that?”
“Well, it’s not the Forest Service, and no one else is supposed to be driving in
so they spend their time watching world events very closely, waiting for the next event on the timetable.”
“What’s the next event?” I asked.
“A peace treaty in the Middle East that will allow the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. Sometime after that, according
to them, a massive rapture will begin among true believers, whoever they are, and they will be snatched off the face of the
Earth and lifted into Heaven.”
I stopped and looked at him. “They think these people will begin to disappear?”
“Yeah, that’s in the Bible. Then comes the tribulation, which is a seven-year period when all hell breaks loose for whoever
is left on Earth. Apparently everything is expected to fall apart: giant earthquakes destroy the economy; ocean levels destroy
many cities; plus rioting and crime and the rest of it. And then a politician emerges, probably in Europe, who offers a plan
to pull things back together, if, of course, he’s set up with supreme power. This includes a centralized electronic economy
which coordinates commerce in most parts of the world. To participate in this economy, however, and take advantage of the
automation,one has to swear allegiance to this leader and have a chip implanted in one’s hand, through which all economic interactions
are documented.
“This Antichrist at first protects Israel and facilitates a peace treaty, then attacks later, starting a world war that ultimately
involves the Islamic nations, Russia, and finally China. According to the prophecies, just as Israel is about to fall, the
angels of God swoop down and win the war, installing a spiritual utopia that lasts a thousand years.”
He cleared his throat and looked at me. “Walk through a religious bookstore sometime and look around; there are commentaries
and novels about these prophecies everywhere, and more coming out all the time.”
“Do you think these end-times scholars are correct?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. The only prophecy that’s being played out in this world is man’s greed and corruption.
Some dictator might rise up and take over, but it will be because he saw a way to take advantage of the chaos.”
“Do you think this will happen?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll tell you one thing. If the collapse of the middle class continues, and the poor get poorer and the
inner cities get more crime-infested and spread into the suburbs, and then on top of that we experience, say, a series of
big natural disasters and the whole economy crashes for a while, we’ll have bands of hungry marauders preying on the masses
and total panic everywhere. In the face of this kind of violence, if someone comes along and proposes a way to save us, to
straighten things out, asking only that we surrender some civil liberties, I have no doubt that we’ll do it.”
We stopped and drank some water from my canteen. Fifty yards ahead was the crow tree.
I perked up; far in the background I could detect the faint dissonance of the hum.
Joel’s eyes squinted in concentration, watching me closely. “What are you hearing?”
I turned around and faced him. “It’s a strange noise, a hum we’ve been perceiving. I think it may be some kind of experiment
going on in the valley.”
“What kind of experiment? Who’s conducting it? Why can’t I hear it?”
I was about to tell him more when we were interrupted by another sound. We listened carefully.
“That’s a vehicle,” I said.
Two more gray Jeeps were approaching from the west and heading toward us. We ran behind a patch of tall briers and hid, and
they passed within a hundred yards without stopping, heading southeast along the same path the earlier Jeep had followed.
“I don’t like this,” Joel said. “Who was that?”
“Well, it’s not the Forest Service, and no one else is supposed to be driving in
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