Now the two young men took their places on floor cushions as Birjandi prepared to teach them. Ali couldn’t wait to hear what his mentor had to say.
“Each of us was raised not simply as a good and faithful Muslim but as a devout and fervent Shiite,” Birjandi began. “What’s more, we were raised as Twelvers. We believed we were living in the last days. We believed the messiah was coming soon. We believed there were signs all around us indicating that the end of human history as we had known it was at hand, that a new kingdom was coming, and with it was coming judgment for the infidels and peace and prosperity for the believers. And we were right — correct?”
“Absolutely,” Ali said.
“Now, of course, when we were lost, we believed that the Twelfth Imam was our messiah. We believed the Mahdi was not only coming to save us and redeem us and rule over us and the whole world but that Jesus would be coming too, as the Mahdi’s lieutenant, as his deputy. But, my sons, we were deceived. We believed a lie. In our ignorance, we did not even think for a moment — for a single second — that what we had been taught might be false, that it might have been fed to us to corrupt us, to beguile us, to lure us away from the true path. Yet God took pity on us. In his loving-kindness and mercy, God chose us, reached out to us, decided to open our eyes and enlighten us and reveal to us the truth — that Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords and that the Mahdi is a thief and a liar. Amazingly, we’re not alone. Najjar is right. God is waking up Muslims all over Iran and all over the Middle East and North Africa and across Central Asia and even in Indonesia. There is a great spiritual awakening under way right now. Millions of Muslims are renouncing Islam and choosing to follow the true King, Jesus Christ!”
The young men heartily agreed.
“Now, it’s important to realize that while Shia Islam has an eschatology — an End Times theology — so does Christianity. But while Islam’s eschatology, sadly, is built on the lies and the false teachings of men, make no mistake, gentlemen, the Bible is the truth — the very Word of God. The Bible is not shy about describing itself as a supernatural book. Yes, it was written down on tablets and parchments and scrolls of various kinds across the span of several thousand years by a wide variety of men, including shepherds, kings, warriors, fishermen, and prophets. But though the Scriptures were written down by men, they were not written by men. On the contrary, the Bible states clearly and unequivocally that it is the inspired Word of God himself, and yes, it does speak to the fate of nations, including Iran. And at this critical hour, it is indeed vital that you understand what the Bible says will happen to us. But brace yourselves, my sons. It is going to be very difficult medicine to swallow.”
16
The watch commander of the prime minister’s communications center got off the phone with the IDF war room in Tel Aviv. Asher Naphtali was hoping for an update from Dimona, but this was bad news on a different front.
“Sir, we have a report that a hotel in Tiberias has collapsed,” the commander told the prime minister. “Emergency crews and hazmat teams are on the scene. At this point, they have no indications of radiation or other weapons of mass destruction. But fires are raging out of control.”
“What happened?”
“Witnesses are saying the hotel was hit either by a missile or possibly by debris from a missile that was intercepted over the Golan.”
“How many casualties?”
“Too early to say, sir. But I’ll let you know the moment we hear anything.”
“And Dimona?”
“No specifics yet, sir,” the commander said. “As you directed, the area has been cordoned off for a twenty-five-mile radius. Hazmat teams are assembling now and preparing to go in. I suspect we’ll know more in the next half hour or so.”
“Do we have any visual evidence of the damage yet?”
“No, sir, not yet.”
“Have we sent in a drone?”
“No, sir — not until we have a clearer sense of the radioactivity levels.”
“Are we certain there was a nuclear explosion?”
“We have no reports of a mushroom cloud per se, but beyond that I don’t have any more information. I’ve opened a line to the IDF commander in the forward position. I can put you on with him if you’d like.”
“No, that’s fine,” the prime minister said. “Let him do his work. Just keep me posted.”
“Yes, sir.”
Naphtali turned to Ambassador Montgomery. He thanked the American for coming to meet with him but said he now needed to turn his full attention to the ongoing rocket attacks. Still, he had a message for the White House he wanted Montgomery to deliver.
“Tell the president I’m going on television within the hour to update the Israeli people on where we are in the course of this war,” the prime minister said calmly. “Tell him the enemies of Israel are going to pay dearly for what they have done. And make it clear that I am not going to ratchet this war down. To the contrary, I’m going to expand it. As of this moment, I am ordering a full ground invasion of Lebanon and Gaza and a massive new wave of air strikes into Iran. Simultaneously, I’ve sent a message through the British ambassador in Damascus to President Mustafa, warning the Syrians not to even think of joining this war. And so help me God, if any nation or terror group uses weapons of mass destruction against the State of Israel, they are going to trigger a level of retaliation the world has never seen.”
Ambassador Montgomery’s face was ashen. But he nodded, shook the prime minister’s hand, and thanked him for the courtesy of his time. Then he was led by a security detail out of the residence and to his waiting motorcade for the quick drive back to the newly completed American consulate in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Arnona.
When he was gone, Naphtali speed-dialed his defense minister. “Levi, he’s gone,” he said calmly. “But I made our position clear. Now start the music. It’s time.”
Dr. Birjandi leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and without notes began directing his students to key Scripture passages from memory.
“Turn to Isaiah chapter 46,” he said.
Ibrahim found the passage first. “What verse?” he asked.
“Nine and ten,” Birjandi said.
“Here it is,” Ibrahim said, stroking his beard. “Speaking through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord said, ‘I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.’”
“Good,” the old man said. “Now turn to Jeremiah 33:3.”
This time Ali got there first. He cleared his throat and read it softly. “‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’”
“Very good,” Birjandi said. “Now I want you to always keep this truth in mind: the prophecies we find in the Bible are intercepts from the mind of the all-seeing, all-knowing God. They tell us God’s secrets. They tell us ‘great and mighty things’ that we do not know about the future. And often — not always, but often — Bible prophecies are storm warnings about the future. They warn us of wars or natural disasters or other catastrophic events that God has decided he is going to allow to happen or cause to happen. But he is not telling us these things to frighten us. He is telling us in order to prepare us, so we are not surprised and so we can be ready to take bold, courageous action in service to him when the time comes.”
“But what about Iran?” Ali asked. “You said the Bible tells us about the future of our country, right?”