"02 - Birth of an Age" - читать интересную книгу автора (BeauSeigneur James)

Members of the KDT cull, which reportedly has nearly 150,000 followers, have been a constant irritant to their fellow Israelis and tourists alike, and have been blamed for a major drop in the already flagging tourist business in Israel. Cult members approach their unsuspecting targets and accuse them of acts or thoughts which the cult considers immoral, and then threaten eternal damnation to any who do not repent. Even High Priest Levin has been assaulted by their verbal harangue.

Membership in the KDT is apparently limited to single Jewish males, though the group also has a large number of additional followers. Actual KDT members are easily identified by the blood-red Hebrew writing which each bears on his forehead. Many in Israel

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believe KDT members possess psychic abilities and most say that the KDT members who have approached them have very detailed personal information about their lives.

According to the proclamations of the two KDT leaders, the events which they prophesy are about to befall the people of the earth because mankind has 'refused to follow God's laws and to accept God's mercy.' They say the reason that the prophesied punishment will come from the heavens is because instead of worshiping the 'true God, men have instead worshiped the sun, moon and stars' Ч an apparent reference to astrology Ч and other 'false gods. '

Should their prophecies about the collision between the earth and an asteroid prove true, it would not be the first time such an event has occurred. Many scientists believe that it was just such a collision with an asteroid that may have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous Period. According to Dr. Jean Spring of the Palomar Planet-Crossing Asteroid Survey at Mt. Palomar Observatory in the U.S., there are several thousand asteroids whose orbits intersect the earth's orbit, approximately 950 of which are one kilometer (. 6 mile) or more in diameter. She is quick to add. however, that the chances are extremely small of a large asteroid colliding with the earth anytime in the next 20 billion years.

When KDT members first began appearing in Israel, police arrested hundreds of them on charges of disturbing the peace. Very soon, however, it became impossible to find sufficient jail space for them. According to sources inside the Israeli government, police have attempted to arrest the cult's two leaders, but despite help from Israel's intelligence service, they have found it impossible to infiltrate KDT ranks. Even though the two men have now come out into the open, police have been unable to arrest them because of their

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uncanny ability to quickly slip away whenever police, even undercover police, come near. "

As Decker read the last paragraph of the article, Christopher rose from his chair and went to one of his bookshelves. "Listen to this," Christopher said, as he walked back from the bookshelf with a leather-bound book open in his hands. It was a Bible.

The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third part of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water Ч the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter and many people died from the waters that had become bitter. The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.2

"That sounds frighteningly similar to what John and Cohen are predicting," Christopher concluded, as he flipped to another page.

"You mean that stuff is in the Bible?!" Decker asked.

"Yes, in the book of Revelation," Christopher said. "But there's more."

And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two lampstands

'Revelation 8:7-12.

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that stand before the Lord of the earth. If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths, and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. These men have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying: and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.3

"So everything they're predicting will happen?" Decker asked, his voice filled with concern.

"I believe they may have the power to make it happen," Milner answered. "This is what I told you about that morning in the hotel lobby in Jerusalem."

Decker looked at Christopher and suddenly a sick look came over Christopher's face. "What's the matter?" Decker asked.

"According to what I just read," Christopher said, "John and Cohen Ч if they are the 'two witnesses' referred to Ч they're prophets. They're servants of God."

"Yeah, but wasn't it John who wrote Revelation?" Decker responded.

"That's right!" Christopher agreed, the realization apparently occurring to him only an instant after it had to Decker.

"Is it possible," Christopher asked, turning to Milner, "that what John wrote in Revelation, he's now attempting to carry out?"