“No,” Nyla said, “Let’s head back to UnderHisWings.”
“And then what?” Thomas asked.
“We hide.” Tori said. “The worst is yet to come. We hide and we pray and we wait for Jesus to return.”
“There’s no guarantee any of us will survive,” Nyla added. “But either way, we will be with the Lord!”
???
Arithem, Zhaviel, Zarall, and Ranoss danced all the way back to UnderHisWings as they escorted their wards. How could they do otherwise? ’Twas a joyous day when finally those whom the Commander assigned to their watch made it into the Kingdom!
“I cannot stop leaping for joy!” Ranoss shouted, skipping over a fallen log.
Arithem chuckled. “Neither can I! How we have longed for this day, my friends! To see our wards saved for eternity!”
“Ah.” Zarall shook his head with a smile. “The struggles and trials we have seen them through!”
Zhaviel nodded, glancing at Kyle. “In truth, there were many days I ne’er thought to see him saved.”
“But the Lord of Hosts is Mighty to Save!” Arithem hefted his sword in the air.
“He is the King of Kings! The Lord of Lords!” They all shouted in unison.
The angels broke out in a song as they continued to escort the saints to their hideout.
“What do we do now, Arithem?” Zarall asked. “Have you heard from the Commander?”
“Aye. We are to protect the saints who remain at UnderHisWings. They must stay hidden there or they will be killed. That is all I have heard.”
Ranoss, Zhaviel, and Zarall nodded. “Then that is what we will do.”
And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
Revelation 16:1
Chapter 36
The next three years passed in agonizing slowness for the saints at UnderHisWings. They received very little news of what was happening outside their cavern hideout. Perhaps that was for the best. The world was enduring the worst time in its history and many people were being slaughtered by the Antichrist, while others endured the wrath of a mighty God.
The saints heard the sixth trumpet bellow, the sound penetrating deep into their woods, and they knew from Scripture that the four angels bound at the river Euphrates had been released to kill a third of mankind through a two-hundred-million-man army.
They prayed for the lost to repent and turn to God before it was too late. But thankfully the war never reached their forest haven.
So they spent their days in prayer and praise, hunting for food, and taking care of each other. God always provided what they needed not far from their cave, and more than once, many had seen the angels who protected them.
Some days it was hard to imagine the horrors happening in the world around them. Especially as they watched Daniel, Callie, Carla and the other children grow bigger and stronger each day and laugh and play like innocent children. In truth, the sight of them helped everyone cling to the hope that their lives would someday go beyond the moist dark walls of these caves and into a glorious eternity when Jesus returned.
There were other small joys along the way. The birth of another baby from one of the married couples. And a wedding! One of the saints had been a Justice of the Peace before the Tribulation, and he was happy to perform the ceremony that united Tori and Thomas in marriage. Tori almost felt guilty experiencing such joy when the world suffered such agony.
God sent other blessings as well. He led hungry, persecuted saints from all over the North American Region into the forest near UnderHisWings to join their number. Tori’s gift of spiritual discernment became crucial to weed out the true believers from the pretenders and NWU spies. In the end, the band of Tribulation saints had grown to nearly one hundred. Taking care of them and helping them grow in the Lord became a full-time task for Tori and Thomas, but with God’s help, they knew they’d been called for that exact purpose.
Sometime in the final year, Tori sensed that the Lord was about to pour out His seven bowls of wrath. In the evening Thomas would read the passages from Revelation describing these events. The first bowl brought a horrible sore upon those who had taken the Mark of the Beast. The second bowl turned the entire sea into blood.
The saints were not affected until the third bowl turned every river to blood. Only by the grace of God were they able to find safe drinking water around their cave, and when they couldn’t, Nyla prayed over the bloody liquid they’d drawn from the creek, and it instantly turned into clear, fresh water.
They knew exactly when the fourth bowl was poured. The temperature in the forest rose so high, it was nearly impossible to venture out for food or water. The sun’s rays seared their bare skin and even sizzled their hair. Inside the cave, the heat drained them of all their energy, making it impossible to move about, lest they overheat and die. During that time, the saints prayed and praised, and God provided the same manna at the entrance to the cave each morning that He had provided for Tori and Thomas on their journey.
The fifth bowl brought a darkness so thick and heavy it saturated everything and cloaked the forest in black. Even the fires they kept burning inside the cave could not dispel it or shove it away. During this time, the saints huddled together, singing and praying and comforting one another with the promises of God found in Scripture.
