Tribulation Soldiers

“Then the Dragon encouraged the Creature to speak great blasphemies against the Lord;  and gave him authority to control the earth for forty-two months.”
Revelation  13:5  (TLB)
      

  A loud pounding at the front door jolted Chris awake.  He went to open the door and Mark bolted in.
          “Chris, hurry, turn on the television!”
          The news was broadcasting numerous accounts of nationwide chaos.  Then the President of the United States came on the air.
          “Ladies and gentlemen, people of America, in view of recent events, it has become necessary for me to declare a national state of emergency.  Thousands of people are unaccounted for.  What may have caused this is still under investigation.  I urge everyone to cooperate with all law enforcement agencies.  Everything is being done to locate these people.  Until order can be restored, I have no choice but to impose marshal law.  A nationwide curfew of 9:00 P.M. will be strictly enforced as of today.  Everyone is required to report to your local police department to be accounted for.  More information will be released as soon as we have it.”
          “Mark, where is your sister?”
          “She never came home.”
          “We need to go to the church.  There are people there that can help us figure out what to do.”
         
          “Hello?  T.J., are you here?”  Chris called out.
          “We’re here.” a voice called out from a room near the front of the church.
          “Mark, this is T.J. he can explain what is going on better than I can.”
          “Mark, Chris, this is Carrie, John and Ben.  We’ve been here all night doing some research.  Yesterday was the end of life as we knew it.  The beginning of the worst times this world has ever seen.  We are in the ‘Great Tribulation’ the Bible speaks of.
          Mark, most of us were taught, for years, about being born again in Christ.  Every week I listened to the preacher talk about it.  Only now do I fully understand the difference between knowing and believing.  Yesterday, the people who believed were taken to Heaven.”
          “So what are you saying?  We”re doomed?”  inquired Mark.
          “No, not at all.  We just don’t get spared from the things that are going to happen during the next seven years.  We still have the choice to believe.”
          Chris interrupted.  “I read the book of Revelation last night.  Most of it didn’t make any sense.”
          “Revelation talks about a time when Satan is allowed to rule the earth for a period of seven years.  He will use everyone he can to build an army that will go to war with God.  It is referred to as the ‘Battle of Armegeddon’.  Satan will be defeated and all of his followers will be thrown into the lake of fire, or Hell.  Jesus will come again and create a New Heaven and a New Earth.  All the believers, including those of us who survive the ‘Great Tribulation’, will live in this new place with Him.
          Between now and then, a lot of things are going to happen.  Satan knows his time is short.  He will do what ever he can to convince people to follow him.  He will try to kill everyone who refuses.
          This church won’t be safe for very much longer.  We need to find somewhere else to go.”
          “There are caves on the mountian.” said Chris.
          “Okay, everyone go to your homes.  Pack some bags.  Meet back here no later than eight o’clock.  If you have Bibles, bring them.  They’ll be hard to find pretty soon.”  instructed T.J.
          Everyone left.  Chris and Mark walked together towards Mark’s house.  Almost there, they heard someone running up behind them.
          “Chris, Mark, wait up!”
          “Hey, Jenny,”  Chris said with a sigh of relief.  “What’s your hurry?”
          “I’m going to the police station.  Everyone has to get checked in there.”
          “Get checked in for what?”
          “Oh, they’re putting some little microchip on everyone.  They say it’ll make it easier to find us in case people start disappearing again.”
          “Maybe later.”  replied Chris.
          “Okay, just don’t take too long.  The Mayor announced on T.V. today that we all need to have one by tomarrow night.”  Jenny cautioned.
      
         “Thanks,”  replied Mark.  “We’ll be sure to get one.”

          Everyone arrived back at the church by eight o’clock.
          “We need to be out of town before curfew.”  reminded Chris.

“He required everyone-great and small, rich and poor, slave and free- to be tattooed with a certain mark on the right hand or on the forehead.”
Revelation 13:16  (TLB)