The Left Behind Collection: All 12 Books (400 page)

Half an hour later the entire mass of a million was past the Hummer and nearing Bozrah. By the time Abdullah pulled up to a narrow entryway to the mountain village, Unity Army troops had straggled in. They looked defeated before the battle began.

What was left of their vehicles and armaments was pathetic, but Rayford was surprised how many soldiers remained alive. Several thousand horses too. He had to wonder whether any of these, who were part of the original one-third of Carpathia’s fighting force, would remain to join the others in the north.

How strange to see the entire remnant gathered again as Abdullah drove around the edges of the great crowd. The Lord and His white-clad heavenly army hovered over them, and despite the trip, everyone appeared fresh and clean and none the worse for wear. No one was even breathing heavily. Which was good, Rayford thought, because they still had another journey ahead of them, twice as far.

“Wonder where ol’ Nick is this time,” Mac said. “We haven’t heard from him in a while, have we?”

“If I were him,” Abdullah said, “I would leave this battle to someone else.”

“Me too,” Mac said. “I don’t see him anywhere.”

Rayford directed Abdullah to a high place just northeast of the city. From there they could look down upon the remnant and out across the plains, where several hundred thousand troops were aligned and apparently ready for a fresh attack. Rayford studied the horizon through binoculars, and soon he heard radio transmissions from Carpathia’s generals.

“Standing by for your word, Excellency.” The voice sounded weary, defeated.

There was a throat clearing. “And the southern platoons?” Carpathia’s voice.

“Ready, Supreme Potentate.” Rayford detected a note of sarcasm.

“Ready, holiness. May we know your position?”

“For whatever reason?”

“So that we avoid the danger of friendly fire, great one.”

“Suffice it to say that I and my cabinet are to your northwest.”

So much for visibility and inspiration. Apparently Nicolae was fully aware how close he’d come to being bird feed at Petra. “Right behind you, boys,” seemed to be his mantra for this skirmish. But it would prove to be more than a skirmish.

“It appears the entire population of Petra is here,” a general broadcast.

“If you are addressing me,” Carpathia said, “you will take care to use proper approbation.”

“I’m addressing those crucial to this operation,
sir
.”

“Your commander in chief
is
crucial, General, and you would do well to remem—”

“I will remember that when this begins, you are hiding in the northwest, away from the action.”

“Identify yourself, infidel!”

“Front lines, sir, which is more than I can say for the commander in chief.”

“Dissension among the ranks!” Mac crowed. “What could be better?”

“We’d better move now, Excellency,” another general weighed in. “We do ourselves no favors allowing the enemy to study us.”

“They are unarmed!” Carpathia said. “This should be a walk in the park!”

“They were unarmed in Petra,
Commander
,” the first general said. “Have you forgotten
their
commander in chief remains overhead? And have you questioned how they got everyone here so fast?”

“Attack!” Carpathia shouted.

And what was left of the southern third of the Unity Army slowly began moving upon Bozrah.

To Rayford it appeared the operation was a suicide mission. As soon as Global Community forces came within range of the remnant of Israel, the soldiers seemed to launch every last projectile in their arsenal. He could not imagine a more earsplitting fusillade, and yet the bullets and missiles and rockets and mortars fell harmlessly, even in the midst of the mass of people. Millions and millions of rounds continued to pour from barrels of all sizes as the army slowly continued to advance.

Yet despite the din, the words of the Lord could be heard clear and plain.

“Come near, you nations, to hear; and heed, you people! Let the earth hear, and all that is in it, the world and all things that come forth from it. For the indignation of the Lord is against all nations, and His fury against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to the slaughter.”

Rayford watched through the binocs as men and women soldiers and horses seemed to explode where they stood. It was as if the very words of the Lord had superheated their blood, causing it to burst through their veins and skin.

“Also their slain shall be thrown out; their stench shall rise from their corpses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; all their host shall fall down as the leaf falls from the vine, and as fruit falling from a fig tree.”

Tens of thousands of foot soldiers dropped their weapons, grabbed their heads or their chests, fell to their knees, and writhed as they were invisibly sliced asunder. Their innards and entrails gushed to the desert floor, and as those around them turned to run, they too were slain, their blood pooling and rising in the unforgiving brightness of the glory of Christ.

“For My sword shall be bathed in heaven; indeed it shall come down on Edom, and on the people of My curse, for judgment.

“The sword of the Lord is filled with blood. It is made overflowing with fatness. For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

“Their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust saturated with fatness.”

It was as if Antichrist’s army had become the sacrificial beasts for the Lord’s slaughter. Carpathia screamed, “Bring me a plane, a chopper, a jet—anything! Get me to the north! Now! Now!”

And Jesus said, “For today is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, the year of recompense for the cause of Zion.”

“Where’s Carpathia’s ride going to come from?” Rayford said.

“Ash Shawbak,” Abdullah said.

“That’s right, Smitty,” Mac said. “That your hometown?”

“Hardly. Amman; you know that.”

“’Course I do. Wasn’t Ash Shawbak where the dignitaries were, on their ’zecutive safari, sippin’ cordials and s’posed to be watching Nicolae bring home the victory?”

“That is the place,” Abdullah said. “I would love to see their faces now.”

“Lookie there,” Rayford said, nodding toward the sky to the southeast. A jet helicopter was screaming to the northwest, at the edge of the decimated army.

Rayford raised the binoculars again and studied the area. “There they are,” he said. “That big old Humvee is just sitting there alone. Looks like Carpathia’s not going to even risk getting out until he absolutely has to.”

“His army’s gone,” Mac said. “’Least this part of it. Not a shot bein’ fired from anywhere.”

It had grown deathly quiet. As Rayford watched, the chopper put down several yards from Carpathia’s position. Only he and Leon disgorged from the vehicle. Leon held the hem of his robe at his waist and ran as fast as was possible for him. Nicolae seemed to catch his great scabbard on the way out of the Humvee, and it hung him up for a second before he angrily freed himself. He dashed to the helicopter, overtaking Leon and elbowing him out of the way to be the first one on.

As soon as Leon was aboard, having been pulled in by assisting hands, the craft lifted off and headed north. Rayford panned left and right with the field glasses and saw no movement among the wreckage of the Unity Army. Bodies were strewn for miles and the desert floor was red with blood.

“Oh, look at this,” Rayford said, scrambling to open his door and leap out. Mac and Abdullah followed and the three climbed atop the Hummer, watching as Jesus descended from the sky. His horse gracefully touched the ground in the plains to the west of Bozrah, and as the entire Jewish remnant watched from the mountain, Jesus dismounted. The army of heaven remained perhaps a hundred feet above Him, following as He strode through the battlefield, the hem of His robe turning red in the blood of the enemy.

The saints above Him began a responsive recitation, asking questions in unison that He answered for all on earth to hear. “Who,” they began, “is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah, this One who is glorious in His apparel, traveling in the greatness of His strength?”

And the Lord said, “It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.”

“Why is Your apparel red, and Your garments like one who treads in the winepress?”

“I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with Me. For I have trodden them in My anger, and trampled them in My fury; their blood is sprinkled upon My garments, and I have stained all My robes.

“For the day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed has come.

“I looked, but there was no one to help, and I wondered that there was no one to uphold; therefore My own arm brought salvation for Me; and My own fury, it sustained Me.

“I have trodden down the peoples in My anger, made them drunk in My fury, and brought down their strength to the earth.”

And the vast thousands on horseback above Him in the heavens praised Him in unison:

“We will mention the lovingkindnesses of the Lord and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord has bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which He has bestowed on them according to His mercies, according to the multitude of His lovingkindnesses.”

And Jesus said, “Surely they are My people, children who will not lie. And so I became their Savior.”

With that He turned toward the multitude watching from Bozrah. “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her.

“For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. . . . Now look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”

“What do you think is happening right now, Brother Enoch?”

Enoch wasn’t sure, but he had an idea. In Illinois, as he knew was true everywhere, regardless of the hour, the day was as bright as noon without so much as a shadow. The glory of the Lord was the light of the world. But Jesus was no longer visible in the sky.

“Will we see Him again? Or do we have to go there for that?”

“I believe we
will
see Him again,” Enoch said. “Even today. He is probably fighting one of the battles that precede the fall of Jerusalem and His delivering of the Jews there. But the prophecies say that when He delivers Jerusalem and ascends the Mount of Olives, every eye shall see Him. Obviously, that includes us.”

“But pretty soon, like after today, we’re going to have to get ourselves over there, right?”

“I sure want to,” Enoch said. “But it won’t be cheap.”

“Well, look at it this way: we got us a thousand years to raise the money.”

“I don’t want to wait that long.”

“Me either. How about a car wash?”

“Head west of the Dead Sea and south of Jerusalem,” Rayford told Abdullah. He settled into the backseat of the Hummer, letting Mac have the front. “Carpathia’s not happy, Mac. You been listening?”