Armageddon's Slaves Chapter ten

The excitement in the Gathering House was palpable. Caleb told them three times to come to order, as they milled around talking. Everyone smiled, laughed, men traded back slaps, women hugged.  Samuel felt sorry for the visiting Servant delivering the Sermon. People whispered and exchanged glances all the way through his presentation. But the man spoke hurriedly, he also couldn’t wait to hear Apostle Rodgers.

Many people still thought of Rodgers as the Chief Apostle, even though such a position no longer existed. He spoke eloquently, with passion. His speeches at the Grand Gatherings always fired up the crowd. By all accounts, he still dominated meetings of the Twelve Apostles. After the Sermon, the 

Gathering stood and sang a song praising the Apostles as The Lord Almighty’s representatives. Then they sat for the special message, which replaced the usual Bible Study. Near the center of the building, the Wilson’s sat together, David between his parents.

The lights dimmed, and Rodgers face filled the screen of the new TV at the front of the auditorium. Beside him, he caught David suppressing a smile, Samuel wondered what was so funny. He’d have to ask later.

Rodgers started speaking, the rich baritone still commanding attention after all these years. One journalist, describing a Rodgers speech, had referred to him as a white Morgan Freeman.

“Disciples, my friends, my companions through these dark years, while we awaited fulfillment of The Lord Almighty’s purpose in creating a Paradise on Earth. How we have longed for that great time to come, when we will hold lost loved ones…”

Samuel heard Judith sob. A few rows in front of him a woman dabbed at her eyes.

“… a time when all of humanity will live peacefully together, with all the necessities of life in abundance. No more sickness, or death, or pain. No more war. No more crime. Truly we live in grand times.”

On the DVD Rodgers paused for a moment, knowing the audience would applaud his words. As in fact they did.

“Yes, we live in exciting times. Now is the time for The Lord’s people to rediscover zeal. Zeal for warning the wicked of approaching doom.  Zeal for proclaiming the coming Paradise. We must worship The Lord Almighty with one voice.

“In these great times we must seek the safety of The Word. We must all work to ensure the cleanliness of our Gatherings. We must submit to the leadership The Lord places over us.”

Samuel wondered where he was going with this. He noted the comment about destroying the wicked. In public, the Disciples claimed the Lord would decide one’s survival of Armageddon. Privately, they all knew that Outsiders would die in that last great battle. Which meant The Lord intended to kill over 99% of humanity.

It was easy to think of faceless “Outsiders” dying at the hand of God. That vision of the future made no sense when he thought of the good folks he’d met on his road trip. Who held the Apostles to account? He forced himself to pay attention, as Rodger continued talking.

“Now is the time to set aside doubts and have faith the Lord Almighty is leading His people in the direction they should go. You may not understand all that He requires you to do, you may not agree with some decisions made by The Lord as He directs us.  The Lord and His Word will test our obedience. We do not want to be among those found wanting.

“Let us examine the ways in which we know the Lord is guiding the Foundation he uses to conduct His earthly affairs.”

Rodgers then launched into a lengthy review of the many prophetic Signposts uncovered by researchers at New Jerusalem. Most importantly, in Biblical prophecy, a day stood for a year. During the Exodus, the Israelites wondered in the desert for forty years, a year for each day the spies stayed in the Promised Land.

Next, Michael Clifton Adderly had recognized the Jewish calendar had three hundred sixty days, not three hundred sixty-five. Samuel remembered one of his dinner conversations. How DID the Israelites reconcile their calendar to the seasons, and how did that effect the prophetic calculations? 

That question demanded investigation.

So, Rodgers, continued his review, we could see the seven times of Daniel chapter four stood for the absence of an independent Jewish homeland, even after the Israelites returned to Jerusalem in 537 BC. That period extended until modern Israel’s creation in 1948.  A 1260 day cycle in Revelation meant the time from completion of the Dome of the Rock, a pagan religious building on the site of 

The Lord’s temple, to the incorporation of The Word of God Foundation.

Or course the 1335 days of Daniel led to 2008.

“Friends, at the time, we did not know what The Lord intended for that great year. Some became excited over the possibility that Paradise would arrive immediately. However, this was not The Lord’s teaching.”

Rodgers smiled wryly, like a Grandfather joking with a child.

“Now that excitement extended to some, even in the New Jerusalem family. But The Lord’s Word never stated the end of this old world would come then.”

A voice shouted in Samuel’s head, “liar.” He tried to suppress the thought, but all he could see in his mind’s eye was the cheering crowd at the Seattle Grand Gathering in 2007, and a huge disembodied Rodgers on the Jumbotron saying “Yes, my fellow Disciples we know that this year’s series of Grand Gatherings, ‘Paradise is at Hand,’ will be the last held on this wicked Earth before the Lord Almighty removes sin forever…”

Did he misremember the words? At the time, he’d been sure the following year would see Paradise arrive. He looked up at the TV, trying to focus on Rodgers words. He intended to carefully note everything Rodgers said, and fact check all of it.  Suddenly he needed to know the truth, either he was crazy or his religious leaders were lying to him.

Rodgers continued speaking, many in the Gathering House clapped at key points. The Apostle had clearly worked out where he expected the applause lines. Most of the clapping coincided with his pauses.

He discussed various doctrinal matters as further proof the Apostles spoke for God. “No one else on Earth teaches all of these truths. Without The Lord’s direction through the Foundation, the world would not know The Lord’s Word. Surely this is clear evidence the Word of God Foundation is the sole representative of The Lord.”

A few minutes later, he spoke of these same doctrinal matters with an odd twist. “You know these represent the true understanding of the Bible, because you learned from The Lord’s Apostles. Is this not all the more reason to stay tight within The Word?”

“Wait a minute,” Samuel thought, “this is circular reasoning. Teaching these doctrines is proof the Foundation is right, we know the doctrines are true because the Foundation teaches them.”

Rodgers went on to discuss the horrible habits of Outsiders. “They drink too much, indulge in drugs and immoral behavior. Adultery and premarital sex are common. They engage in disgusting practices, even within their marriages. Homosexuality is rampant. Priests seduce children and groom them as sex objects, to satisfy their perverted desires. The Lord will remove this blot from his creation.”

More applause greeted this statement.

“Businessmen steal from customers, and each other. Wicked men manipulate the stock markets and currency exchanges for their private gain. Dishonesty is everywhere. Students cheat on tests, employees cheat their bosses.

“And through it all, the churches stand by and do nothing. They tolerate sinners in their midst. The priests and ministers do nothing, cleaning their houses of worship would reduce the money tossed into the collection plates by those that believe they can buy salvation.”

Samuel shook his head. This just did not match up with his recent experience. Sometimes people did bad things, but not all people, all the time. Around him, Disciples nodded, agreeing with every word from the Apostle’s mouth. He wanted to jump up and yell, “It’s not like that.”

Rodgers speech went on for the hour normally reserved for the Bible Study. Samuel forced himself to listen, finding more points to investigate. Rodgers closed the speech with a final call to action by the Disciples. He hinted that big changes were coming, all needed to prepare to act without question when the time came.

On the way home, Judith gushed about Rodgers’ wonderful speech. Clearly the final days approached at breakneck speed. At one point, she grew quiet, then spoke with emotion.

“We’ll have Charlene with us again. We’ll get to see her grow up, become a woman. She’ll find a wonderful husband in Paradise. It can’t come soon enough.”

Samuel and David rode in silence, letting her go on. A possible future with his daughter was one question he had not resolved. If the answers to his questions led him to conclude the Word was false, where did that leave him? Was he turning his back on Charlene? Or did abandoning false hope mean honoring her life as it was, mourning her passing, and moving on with his own life?

He did not know.

When they got home, Judith went upstairs to change, leaving father and son to root around the kitchen for a prelunch snack.

“I noticed you smiling at something, when Rodgers speech started. What was so funny?”

“Dad you need to read 1984. Whenever the people in power give a speech, or staged a rally, they show huge pictures of Big Brother, the guy supposedly in charge. Everybody cheers, they don’t even know why or what for. That speech looked and sounded like just like that.”

Armageddon’s Slaves © Jeffrey Thomas  All rights reserved.

This is a work of fiction. All events and characters are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.