Desecration: Antichrist Takes The Throne by Tim Lahaye, Jerry B. Jenkins Page B

“Micah.”
    Chaim smiled faintly and turned to him. “Cameron, my friend.”
    “Did you eat?”
    “I remain sated,” Chaim said.
    “Remarkable.”
    “God is good.”
    “And has he encouraged you, strengthened you, empowered you?” Buck pressed.
    “I am ready.”
    He didn’t sound ready. In fact, he sounded and looked even wearier than he had the day before. “Did you sleep?” Buck said.
    “No. But I rested.”
    “How does that work?”
    “There is nothing like resting in the Lord,” Chaim said, as if he’d been doing it all his life.
    “So, what happens now?” Buck said. “What’s the plan?”
    “God will reveal it. He shows me only what I need to know, when I need to know it.”
    “Terrific.”
    “I detect sarcasm, Cameron.”
    “Guilty. I’m a plan-your-work-and-work-your-plan kind of a guy.”
    Chaim reached for Buck’s hand and rose unsteadily. He groaned as joints cracked. “But this is neither my plan nor my work, you understand.”
    “I guess. So we just stand around waiting?”
    “Oh no, Cameron. Even I do not have the patience to wait until high noon.”
    “And if Carpathia does not appear until then?”
    “A ruckus will flush him out.”
    Buck found that intriguing, but again, this frail, little old man hardly looked up to causing anything. Was he expecting Buck to do something? Without papers? Without the mark? Buck was willing, but he didn’t know yet what he thought of Chaim’s judgment.
    “When did they stop administering the mark?” Buck said.
    “They have not stopped. See, two lines remain open over there, but it appears one is about to shut down, despite the number of those waiting. You have noticed nothing this morning, have you, Cameron?”
    “Noticed?”
    “The difference between today and yesterday.”
    Buck looked around. “Crowd’s bigger, earlier. Military vehicles are still everywhere outside the Old City. But why are they closing a line with people still in it? And why didn’t they finish last night? More people showed up?”
    “And you a journalist!”
    “I’ll bite. What’d I miss?”
    “You said it yourself. The vehicles are still there.”
    “So? A show of strength. Carpathia probably expects opposition today.”
    “But they would not leave and come back,” Chaim said. “You think these soldiers slept in those trucks? They would not have to. They have accommodations, centers, places to muster.”
    “Okay …”
    “How many soldiers did you see with the trucks today?”
    “To be honest, Chaim, uh, Micah, I was focused on making sure you were still here and all right. I was in a hurry and not paying attention.”
    “You certainly weren’t. Now look, they are herding what is left of that line into the only one still open.”
    “And I suppose you know why.”
    “Of course,” Chaim said.
    “And you’re not even a journalist. But still, you’ll tell me.”
    “They closed that line for the same reason the Temple Mount is filled with civilians rather than GC today.”
    Buck spun and took in the whole area. “Sure enough. Where are they?”
    “They are suffering. Soon they will be as bad off as poor Mr. Fortunate, who must be miserable almost unto death by now. How utterly ingenious for our Lord to plant in someone’s mind the brilliance of having the GC personnel go first yesterday. They received the mark of the beast; then they worshiped his image. And now they are victims of Revelation 16:1-2.”
    “The plague of boils!” Buck whispered.
    Chaim looked at him meaningfully with a close-mouthed smile, then moved away from Buck and into an open area. Buck stumbled and nearly toppled, startled by the huge, deep sounds emitting from the little man’s throat. Chaim’s voice was so loud that everyone stopped and stared, and Buck had to cover his ears.
    “I heard a great voice out of the temple!” Chaim shouted, “saying to the seven angels, ‘Go your ways, and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God upon the earth.’ And the first went,