"Tim LaHaye & Jerry Jenkins - Left Behind Series 5 - Apollyon" - читать интересную книгу автора (LaHaye Tim)

When Rayford and Mac finished postflight checks and finally disembarked, a
Global Community Jeep delivered them to their hotel. Mac signaled Rayford not to
say anything in the car or either of their rooms. In the coffee shop, Rayford finally
demanded to know what was going on.


Buck wished Chloe had been able to sleep on the flight from the States. Ken Ritz
had procured a Gulf stream jet, so it was the most comfortable international flight
Buck had ever enjoyed. But the four of themтАвKen, Buck, Chloe, and TsionтАвhad been
too excited to rest. Tsion spent half the time on his laptop, which Ken transmitted to
a satellite, keeping the rabbi in touch with his worldwide flock of millions.
A vast network of house churches had sprung upтАвseemingly spontaneouslyтАвwith
converted Jews, clearly part of the 144,000 witnesses, taking leadership positions.
They taught their charges daily based on the cyberspace sermons and lessons from
the prolific Ben-Judah. Tens of thousands of such clandestine local house churches,
their very existence flying in the face of the all-inclusive Enigma Babylon One
World Faith, saw courageous converts added to the church every day.
Tsion had been urging the local congregations to send their leaders to the great
Meeting of the Witnesses, despite warnings from the Global Community. Nicolae
Carpathia had again tried to cancel the gathering at the last minute, citing thousands
of deaths from contaminated water in over a third of the world. Thrilling the faithful
by calling Carpathia's bluff, Tsion responded publicly on the Internet.
тАЬMr. Carpathia,тАЭ he had written, тАЬwe will be in Jerusalem as scheduled, with or
without your approval, permission, or promised protection. The glory of the Lord
will be our rear guard.тАЭ
Buck would need the protection almost as much as Tsion. By choosing to show up
and appear in public with Ben-Judah, Buck was sacrificing his position as
Carpathia's publishing chief and his exorbitant salary. Showing his face in
proximity to the rabbi's would confirm Carpathia's contention that Buck had
become an active enemy of the Global Community.


Rabbi Ben-Judah himself had come up with the strategy of simply trusting God.
тАЬStand right beside me when we get off the plane,тАЭ he said. тАЬNo disguises, no
misdirection, no hiding. If God can protect me, he can protect you. Let us stop
playing Carpathia's games.тАЭ
Buck had long been anonymously broadcasting his own cyberspace magazine, The
Truth, which would now be his sole writing outlet. Ironically, it attracted ten times
the largest reading audience he had ever enjoyed. He worried for his safety, of
course, but more for Chloe's.
Tsion seemed supernaturally protected. But after this conference, the entire
Tribulation Force, not to mention the 144,000 witnesses and their millions of
converts, would become open archenemies of the Antichrist. Their lives would
consist of half ministry, half survival. For all they had been through, it was as if the
seven-year tribulation had just begun. They still had nearly five years until the
glorious appearing of Christ to set up his thousand-year reign on earth.
What Tsion's Internet missives and Buck's underground electronic magazine had
wrought in Israel was stunning. The whole of Israel crawled with tens of thousands
of converted Jewish witnesses from the twelve tribes all over the world.
Rather than asking Ken Ritz to find an out-of-the-way airstrip where the Tribulation