“The War of Gog and Magog will be unlike any other war in human history,” Birjandi told his students. “No nation will come to Israel’s defense. Not the U.S., not the U.N., not NATO — nobody. But Israel will not be alone. Ezekiel tells us that the God of Israel will go to war on behalf of the children of Israel and against her enemies, with devastating results.”
Birjandi directed them to consider verses 18 through 20 of Ezekiel 38. “What does the text say will happen to the enemies of Israel?”
Ali took a moment to read the passage. “It looks like there will be a huge earthquake,” he said.
“Correct,” Birjandi affirmed. “‘All the men who are on the face of the earth will shake at My presence,’ the Lord says. The epicenter of the earthquake will be in Israel, but its shock waves will be felt around the world. What else?”
Ibrahim read, “‘I will call for a sword against him on all My mountains…. Every man’s sword will be against his brother.’”
“Right,” said Birjandi. “In other words, in the ensuing chaos, the enemy forces arrayed against Israel will begin fighting one another. The war will begin all right, but Russian, Iranian, and other Muslim forces will be firing at one another, not at the Jews. Now look at verse 22.”
Ibrahim continued reading. “‘With pestilence and with blood I will enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, a torrential rain, with hailstones, fire and brimstone.’”
“Here the Lord talks of the judgment he will bring against Gog, the Russian dictator, and his allies. This will be the most terrifying sequence of events in human history to date. On the heels of a supernatural global earthquake that will undoubtedly take many lives will come a cascading series of other catastrophes. Pandemic diseases, for example, will sweep through the troops of the Russian coalition. And the attackers will face other judgments such as have rarely been seen since the cataclysmic showdown in Egypt between Moses and Pharaoh. Devastating hailstorms will hit these enemy forces and their supporters. So, too, will apocalyptic firestorms that will call to mind the terrible judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Scriptures indicate that the firestorms will be geographically widespread and exceptionally deadly.”
Birjandi took a sip of tea as he let the implications of the words sink in.
“Think about it, gentlemen. This suggests that targets throughout Russia and the former Soviet Union, and perhaps throughout some of Russia’s allies, will be supernaturally struck on this day of judgment and partially consumed. These could be limited to nuclear missile silos, military bases, radar installations, defense ministries, intelligence headquarters, and other government buildings of various kinds. But other targets could very well include religious centers, such as mosques, madrassas, Islamic schools and universities, and other facilities where hatred against Jews and Christians is preached and where calls for the destruction of Israel are sounded. We don’t know for certain because the text does not say. So we need to be very careful not to overreach in our interpretation. But I think however it plays out, it’s fair to say we would have to expect extensive material damage during these supernatural attacks, and it’s possible — not definite, but very possible — that many civilians will be at severe risk.”
Ali and Ibrahim were taking notes as fast as they could. But Birjandi was not finished.
“Now, look at Ezekiel 39:12,” he continued. “It tells us that the devastation will be so immense that it will take seven full months for Israel to bury all the bodies of the enemies in her midst, to say nothing of the dead and wounded back in the coalition countries. What’s worse, verses 17 and 18 indicate that the process of burial would actually take much longer except that scores of bodies will be devoured by carnivorous birds and beasts that will be drawn to the carnage like moths to a flame. This is going to be a horrible, gruesome time. But this is what is coming. A terrible judgment is coming against Russia, against Iran, and against our allies. And perhaps what is most sobering of all is that some of Ezekiel’s prophecies have already come true.”
Marseille turned off the lights of the Ford and shut off the engine but didn’t get out and go into the house just yet. She had been thinking about David, but now, despite how tired she was, she found herself thinking about the enemy David was fighting against — the Twelfth Imam. Who was this monster that was wreaking havoc throughout the Middle East? Who was this fiend that was trying to kill her best friends, that was trying to kill all the Jews in Israel, that was trying to build a global kingdom he could rule with an iron fist? Could he be stopped? How? And by whom?
For some time now, Marseille had been seriously mulling over the possibility that the Mahdi was, in fact, the Antichrist that the Bible said would rise and rule in the last days. She had, therefore, been carefully studying the Scriptures to truly understand the prophecies about the Antichrist from both the Old and New Testaments. She had read dozens of news stories about the Mahdi, his mysterious background, and his murderous objectives. At first, she felt there must be a connection between the two. But in the past forty-eight hours or so, she had become less sure that the Mahdi, however horrible, was really the final, satanically driven tyrant of which the prophets and apostles wrote. Wasn’t the Antichrist supposed to conquer Israel and rule the world? Why, then, was the Mahdi losing this war to the Jews?
She shook off the thought and put the keys in her purse. It was too late for such thoughts, and she had other matters to be concerned with. She pulled out her iPhone. She had been texting and e-mailing Lexi for days but hadn’t heard anything back yet. The last e-mail she had was from several days before the war had actually begun.
Marseille wondered where her friend was and prayed for her and Chris’s safety. She wiped moisture from her eyes, then checked the rearview mirror to make sure she wasn’t too much of a wreck. She needed a shower and a cup of tea, but that would have to wait. For now, she just needed to close her eyes and let all the cares of the world melt away, at least for the next few hours.
She made herself get out of the car and quietly closed and locked the doors behind her. Lexi’s parents — Richard and Sharon Walsh — had been through enough the past few days, and the last thing she wanted to do was wake them up. Still, as she walked up the driveway to the front door, she found herself glad that she had opted to stay with the Walshes rather than go back to the Sheraton on the university campus. Lexi’s parents had strongly discouraged their daughter and new son-in-law from taking their honeymoon in Israel. Now they were beside themselves with fear. They were watching cable news nonstop as the hailstorm of rockets and missiles kept hitting the Holy Land hour after hour. Whenever she’d been able to spend time with them, Marseille had done her best to comfort Lexi’s parents, though her efforts hadn’t seemed to do much good. She had prayed with them and for them, but they were not believers and didn’t care much for Lexi’s interest in spiritual things. Marseille just hoped they were getting a decent night’s sleep, at least.
She carefully opened the front door and let herself in. But to her shock the house wasn’t dark and quiet. Lexi’s parents weren’t asleep. Her father was pacing the kitchen with a phone to his ear. Her mother was weeping, crouched in front of the television in the family room, while images of a roaring fire filled the screen.
“Have you heard the news?” Mr. Walsh asked as Marseille entered the kitchen.
“No, why? What’s happening?” Marseille said.