This is an excerpt from a novel I wrote titled “The Visionary." The characters speaking are two of the major characters, Peter and Jubilee. The woman named Zoë that Peter mentions is his sister. I’m going to edit part of it out since the storyline is not what I want to share, but just part of the conversation about the tribulation.
Here is shortened version of chapter 15, titled “Answers.”
“Speaking of opinions, I am anxious to speak with you about all these crazy dreams,” she paused and softly laughed, “Perhaps ‘crazy’ is the wrong word to use.”
They were quiet for a few moments before Jubilee spoke again.
“I wish I had written all of my dreams down so I could remember all the little details I am now certain were important. Yet, somehow I have a strong feeling you’ll be able to fill in the gaps.”
“You told me earlier that all the dreams I mentioned on my radio program you have also had,” he remembered, placing his empty cup next to hers, “So you really don’t have to tell me the details, you can just ask whatever questions you may have.”
“I have so many; I wish I had written them down as well. I guess what I most want to know is if these dreams are prophetic as you say on your show, what exactly does that mean? Are we talking within our lifetime? Are we seeing the end of the world or just a bunch of wars and disasters that will alter the world? I’ve read some of the Bible, but I usually skip over the book of Revelation because it’s so dark and confusing. Do our dreams have something to do with Revelation?” she paused and shyly smiled, “I guess I should just ask you one question at a time.”
“It’s alright,” he said as he glanced at the heart-shaped clock. It had been almost an hour since his parents had left and half an hour since Rebecca had gone, “It’s almost eight. This conversation will be a lengthy one. Do you have time or do you need to go over notes for your court cases tomorrow?”
“I really need to have this discussion with you no matter how long it takes,” she decided.
“I don’t want to overwhelm you by throwing too much at you at once,” Peter began, trying to find the balance of making polite eye contact and out-right gazing into her beautiful turquoise eyes.
“I’m already overwhelmed,” she returned, “So please just say whatever you want to say and if I feel my brain can’t keep up, I’ll let you know.”
“Deal,” he agreed, and then took a deep breath as he contemplated on where to begin. “To make things clear, I want to address your question about what time frame of the world’s history we have been dreaming of. Although only the Lord knows when the last day of this world will be, I strongly believe we will live to see the beginning and end of the tribulation. In other words, yes, I believe the end of this planet will come during our lifetime. In fact, I doubt our children will live to see thirty.” He paused with a self-conscious laugh, “I didn’t mean our children, I just meant those around Nathan’s age.”
“I knew what you meant,” Jubilee assured, “But what do you mean that we will see the ‘end of the tribulation?’ Aren’t the Christians supposed to be raptured off the earth before the tribulation?”
“Do you consider yourself a Christian?” he asked rather than answered.
“Normally I would say yes, but by the skeptical tone in your voice you make me think I should say no,” she remarked with defensive airs.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound disrespectful. Only you and God know where your relationship stands,” he said, then gently brushed her hand, but just as quickly pulled his hand away. “If God is giving you the same dreams He’s given me, it would be pretty unfair of me to assume you were not a spiritual person with some sort of positive faith in God.”
She glanced up at the large television mounted on the wall. “Well, maybe I could be a little less worldly,” she decided, knowing he spoke out against all believers watching television or movies, “But, yes, I would classify myself as a Christian. I gave my heart to Jesus when I was seven years old.”
Peter debated whether this was the right time to teach her that being a Christian was more than just a one-time prayer. Should he show her all the scripture verses mentioning the fact that we must daily live holy lives in order to obtain salvation at the end of one’s life? He decided that conversation could wait until another day. Afterall, he really did not know her that well and perhaps she was living a clean lifestyle and communing with her Creator on a regular basis.
“Glad to hear it,” he ultimately said, “To answer your question, open you Bible to Luke 17:26-37. Go ahead and read it out loud if you want.”
“Alright,” Jubilee agreed. She took less time than Peter had expected to find the passage he recommended, and read, “’Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot's wife! Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left. "Where, Lord?" they asked. He replied, "Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather."’” She finished the verses and looked at him, “See, right there it says one person will be ‘taken and the other left.’ The rapture, right?”
Peter shook his head. “That’s what the churches are teaching because they don’t read the entire passage. Notice that neither Noah nor Lot were removed from the earth, but God removed them from danger when He passed His judgements. Those passages say that the time of the Son of Man, in other words the end of the age, will be just as those times,” he explained, “Also please notice that when one of Jesus’ disciples ask him where those taken will be going, Jesus does not say, ‘raptured to heaven.’ He says those taken are going where ‘the vultures will gather.’ That means they are taken in death. The book of Revelation mentions all the many ways people will die in the end days. But now turn to backwards to Matthew 24:29-31.”
Jubilee again did as instructed, her mind already feeling more enlightened. Again, she read aloud, “’Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.’”
“If you ever decide to give up your practicing law, you should read the Bible on CD. You do a beautiful job reading,” he commented, but quickly got back on track, “Did you notice the first seven words?”
“’Immediately after the tribulation of those days,’” she repeated, “It says “’after the tribulation,’ doesn’t it? These verses and the ones in Luke all show Jesus will return after the earth has been judged, not before. I see now that the rapture is real, but will not occur until the end. The very end.”
He nodded; pleased she caught on so quickly.
“So why are the churches still teaching it backwards if it’s so clear? I’m assuming if we continued to read we would find the same message in other books as well.”
“Yes, also in Mark 13 and I Corinthians 15, just to name a few” he said, “And as to the reasons why so few ministers choose to preach it wrong, I have several theories. Some are ignorant because they are lazy and refuse to do their own Bible study and just parrot all they were incorrectly taught. Others may know the truth but also know if they speak out against the lies being taught, they will lose their congregations and therefore, lose the money that pays their bills. Still others are afraid and in denial that we are all going to go through the terror of the tribulation period. It is, afterall, going to be so terrifying that the Bible says in Luke 21:26 that ‘men's hearts’ will ‘fail them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken.’”
“I dreamt about concentration camps for Christians,” Jubilee stated in a near-whisper, “I know you have too. Does that mean that those of us that refuse the Mark of the Beast are all doomed to suffer?”
Her eyes were so round and expression so fearful, Peter instantly rubbed her back to comfort her. “Don’t worry, J.B., there’s hope for all who follow the instructions.” His hand lingered for a moment on her shoulder, and he gave it a reassuring squeeze before reluctantly releasing his hand. “Right after Jesus tells His disciples that hearts will fail from fear, He goes on to say in Luke 21:27-28, ‘Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.’ If you then read Revelation 12, verse six mentions a woman who flees to the wilderness, ‘where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.’ The woman represents the True church and the Christians who are being persecuted by the Anti-Christ, the one referred to as the dragon in this chapter. Although Revelation is full of symbolism, we can take verse six literally. If we flee to remote locations and make certain to stockpile enough food for a minimum of 1,260 days, or roughly three and a half years, we stand a good chance of surviving to see the Lord’s return where we will be transformed and meet Him in the air. Turn now to Revelation 12 and read verses 13-17.”
Jubilee was still feeling warm from his touch, but was still able to focus on the seriousness of his words as she read, “’Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.’” She silently reread the verses again before saying, “I see the symbolism again of the Anti-Christ and the woman’s child representing believers. I’m guessing that the ‘time and times and half a time’ also refers to three and a half years of safety in the wilderness areas.”
“Honestly, I’ve heard many theories in the meaning behind ‘time and times and half a time,’ but when you compare it with the above 1,260 days as you just did, logic states this also means three and a half years,” he agreed.
“What you are saying makes so much sense,” she admitted, “In one of my dreams I saw myself loading a semi-truck full of food into a large warehouse. In another dream, I was living in the middle of the woods and standing near a small group of log cabins. I was handing out food and supplies to the other people. It almost seemed as if I was a co-leader of this group.” She looked at him from the corner of her eye, afraid if she looked too directly into his handsome face, she would admit the other leader in the dream was her husband she only saw from the back, but he easily could have represented Peter. “How remote will we need to be? The Pacific Northwest has many mountains. But will America even be a safe place during the tribulation, if those concentration camps are real?”
“They’re very real. Some of them are already being built. I can show you articles I’ve read that will convince you that even the existing FEMA camps will someday be used against us,” he said, “And while I cannot say a hundred percent that there are no safe places to hide in America, I feel it would be best to leave this country. Our plans are to head farther north.”
“You already know where?”
“Not yet. It will be an expensive venture and the money will have to be very carefully budgeted to last the entire seven years of the tribulation. If we relocate too soon we could run out of funds and we won’t do anyone any good if also run out of food,” Peter answered.
“You’ve cleared up a lot for me, but I still feel like I have a million more questions,” she said with a sigh.
“I know there’s a lot to discuss, but we don’t have to talk about it all in one night,” Peter reminded.
“I know and it’s getting late; I have to get up at 6:00 tomorrow,” she realized, “But I was wondering who the ‘we’ are that you have referred to. I know you and I are sharing dreams, but it’s obvious you’ve had plans for a while about moving.”
“I’m speaking of Zoë. She and I have been saving money for several years for the move, but we have always hoped that…”
“Yes?”
“Well, we’ve always hoped we would both be married to spouses that would join us. We’ll eventually reach the point where it would be too dangerous to leave our homes in the wilderness. It will be much more unlikely that we’ll get married during those last three and a half years,” he admitted.
“You say seven years of the tribulation just as Revelation suggests, but why are only the last three and half years the most dangerous?” Jubilee wondered.
“The entire seven years will be fraught with danger, including the time before the official start of the tribulation. In Mark 13:8 Jesus says, ‘For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows.’ So even before the beginning of the end, this world will be in great peril,” Peter answered, “I don’t know exactly when during the actual tribulation period that we’ll move, only that the last half is when the Bible mentions fleeing for safety’s sake. All I know is that God has promised to make it clear to let me know when the time is right. If I had to guess, the move will happen two to three years into the tribulation so that we have time to prepare the area for the people we will help feed and protect,” Peter went on to explain, “I also believe the reason why the last half of the tribulation will be the worst part for believers is because of what those verses in Revelation 12 tell us, that the dragon will be warring his worst against us, and it will be crucial to flee before the Mark of the Beast is mandatory.”
“The earthquake and tsunami in Brazil, do you think they are what Jesus was referring to in Mark 13?” Jubilee pondered.
“Possibly.”
Jubilee leaned forward and placed the Bible on the coffee table. “I don’t think I can take any more tonight,” she confessed.
“I understand. I hope I have been able to help and not add to your confusion,” he said as he reluctantly stood from the couch, thinking her words were the cue for him to leave.
Jubilee stood as well, but the dogs stayed put, stretching out their limbs to take over even more of the couch.
“You have helped more than you know,” she replied with a smile.
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