“Don’t worry about a thing,” the president insisted, accurately sensing the depths of Bennett’s hesitation. “I’ll have my staff arrange for one of the camp’s ambulances to take you and Erin to Amman. From there, we’ll figure out a way to get you both back to the U.S. But look, I’ve got NORAD on the other line. I’ll see you tomorrow. Be safe. Take care of that sweet wife of yours. And pray for me, Jon. Whatever you do, don’t stop praying for me.”
“You have my word on that, Mr. President,” Bennett replied.
“I know I do,” the president said, “and I appreciate that very much. I promise to be thinking about the questions you posed.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“And you’ll let me know if there is anything I can do for you?”
“Actually, Mr. President,” Bennett said without hesitation, “there is.”
“What’s that?”
“Would you help me track down my mother and see that she’s safe?”
29
Bennett couldn’t believe what had just happened.
He felt honored that the president had reached out to him at such a moment and was eager to help. He was also deeply grateful that the president had agreed to assign Bobby Caulfield, his personal aide, to do everything he possibly could to track down Bennett’s mother. But he suddenly realized that in his shock at hearing the president’s voice, he had said nothing about the mysterious caller. Nor had he gotten a number to call the president back, and a quick glance at the caller ID on his satphone confirmed Oaks had been calling on an unlisted and most likely scrambled line.
Now what? Bennett wondered. America had been attacked. Millions lay dead or dying. Prophetic events were moving quickly. The leader of the free world — what was left of it, anyway — was asking for his help.
Bennett finally reached his tent and grabbed his toiletries, a clean pair of khakis, a fresh shirt, and a towel before heading to the showers. He needed to clear his mind. He needed to figure out how to proceed. His instincts had been right after all. He and Erin were leaving — quickly, and for good.
News of the attacks in the U.S. was just starting to spread through the general population of the camp. He noticed small groups of people huddled around shortwave radios, listening to the latest developments. Some were crying. Many looked shell-shocked. But there were also gangs of young boys laughing and cheering the attacks on the U.S.
Bennett’s first instinct was to grab several of them and knock their heads together. But it was a temptation he would have to resist. He and Erin had come to Jordan, after all, to love their neighbors and their enemies, not to punch their lights out. It wasn’t easy for Bennett to stay calm in such circumstances. But he had to be faithful to the mission for which he’d been called. People were watching his every move, especially now. As one of the few Americans in the camp, he couldn’t betray his country. More importantly, though, as one of the few followers of Christ there, he couldn’t betray the God who had sent him there to be His hands and feet, to bless the poor and needy in the name of Jesus. He had to stay focused.
Hearing young boys mock his country suddenly put in sharp relief the question on so many people’s minds — the same question that until yesterday had been front and center in his own. Ever since Ezekiel’s War, people had been asking him where the United States fit into End Times prophecy and what else was going to happen before Jesus returned. He hadn’t been certain what to tell them. He’d never claimed to be a prophecy expert, as Dr. Mordechai had been.
But people kept asking, and the question kept gnawing at Bennett’s soul. So for the last few months, he’d been devoting his spare time to finding the answer. Amid all their responsibilities in the camp, of course, there was precious little “spare” time. At first, he and Erin would get up ten or fifteen minutes early to read the Bible and have some quick prayer together before heading to their post for work. But that quickly proved insufficient. The spiritual warfare was too intense. Bennett’s hunger for God’s presence and His Word was too deep, too desperate.
Soon he found himself waking up at two or three in the morning to study the Scriptures by flashlight. He was taking detailed notes in the leather journal Erin had given him. He was often on his knees until daybreak, asking the Lord for wisdom and insight and the ability to explain what he was learning to others. He prayed for his mother. He prayed hour upon hour for every friend he could think of, asking that Christ would open their eyes to His love, draw them into His Kingdom, and build them up strong in the faith.
Occasionally, when he had a few hours off, he would use his laptop’s satellite connection and jump on the Internet. Then he would scour the Web site and weblog that Dr. Mordechai had left behind, trying to glean every tidbit on End Times prophecy he could. He would often e-mail Mordechai’s friends, as well as various pastors and seminary professors around the world, asking for their wisdom and insight as well. It was a crash course in biblical eschatology, to be sure. But he had no choice. People wanted to know the truth. Increasingly, they were turning to him for answers. And the clock was ticking.
Bennett reached the showers and let the cool water wash over him as he processed a flood of new emotions and new questions. Was he ready? Ready to talk about where China fit into the last days? Ready to discuss the future of Israel and the Third Temple? Ready to explain the future of Babylon? Ready to explain why there were no biblical references to America in all of Bible prophecy — none at all?
This last one was the toughest of all, he mused, for it raised a deeper question: if they were really living in the last days, then how was it possible that the United States, the wealthiest and most powerful nation on the face of the earth in the history of mankind, didn’t seem to have a role?
30
Bennett forced himself to be analytical, not emotional.
For the moment, there was nothing he could do about whatever attacks lay ahead. But he could get prepared for his meeting with the president, and this, he decided, had to be his focus. He tried to clear his head and concentrate on what he had learned so far.
Ezekiel 36 and 37 had been his starting point, and initially the clearest prophecy of all. It plainly described Israel being reborn as a nation at the end of history, the Jews pouring back into the Holy Land after centuries of exile, and the Jews of this resurrected Israel then rebuilding the ancient ruins, making the deserts bloom, becoming wealthy, and creating “an exceedingly great army.” To Bennett’s astonishment, all of this had come to pass in his lifetime, even though the Hebrew prophet had written it twenty-five hundred years earlier.
What’s more, the next two chapters of the book of Ezekiel had come true as well. Ezekiel 38 and 39 clearly described the rise of a future dictator in Russia who would build a military alliance with Iran and a host of Middle Eastern countries to attack Israel in something that would become known as the “War of Gog and Magog.” The prophecy also indicated that just when it would appear as if all hope for Israel was lost and a holocaust was about to occur, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would supernaturally intervene and come to Israel’s rescue. Ezekiel described fire and hailstones falling from heaven on the enemies of the revived Jewish state. He wrote of a massive earthquake that would be unleashed, the chaos and carnage that would ensue, and he wrote that when the smoke cleared, Israel would be physically saved from destruction and the Lord would pour out His Spirit on “the whole house of Israel,” bringing about a spiritual salvation as well. Ezekiel 38:16 specifically described the event as happening in “the last days.” And to Bennett’s amazement, he had seen it all happen over the past year. There was no question that he was now in what the Bible called the last days.