“Then we are in agreement, Elijah. Now, I would like to ask you a question or two while we are on the phone. This way the other government members can listen in. Are you ok with this?”
“I would be more than happy to answer any question you and or any other members of your committee have to ask.”
“Thank you, Elijah. My first and foremost question to you is why are you interfering with the Government of Israel?”
“Because you have a mandate from Adonai to do certain things and Israel has to follow those mandates. You may note that Israel only existed over all these thousands of years because God mandated it. You and all your members should also know that defying God has serious consequences, going back thousands of years. I assume you know your Talmud and Torah?”
“Yes, we all do.”
“Then you realize that when Adonai gives you an instruction it becomes law, period!”
“Well yes, Elijah; but that refers to the Mosaic law of our ancestors. Or the law as Moses dictated it to us.”
“So, Michael, then just as you and I know the law, you know that ignorance of Adonai’s will is not an excuse. I am a Prophet sent to you from Adonai. I have instructed your leader David on authority from Adonai that Israel must begin to rebuild the Temple.”
“Well….Elijah, we are a democracy and we have to all agree to do something. We do not have a dictatorship, or a king, as during your time in ancient Israel. We are trying, Elijah. We are listening to you but as I said, we cannot just do something because you said to do so.”
“Then listen to me very carefully, Michael. What is the problem with starting right now to rebuild the Temple? As I have said before it needs to be done immediately. The original concern was that you could not destroy the structure’s that are now gone. Therefore, I destroyed them for you. The blame does not lay with Israel. It lies in the lap of your enemies. You have the perfect situation to do as I have told you Adonai wants you to do. You need to stop the word games that you all seem to want to play. You are toying with Adonai’s patience. This type of playing does not sit well with Him. I hope you understand this. Now are we going to start the rebuilding or not?”
“Elijah, we live in a modern world; we just don’t do things without due process of governmental policies. We discuss the issue, prepare a plan, and then submit it to those who make the final decisions. Then if we agree, we create an action plan and then move forward. This is not that easy of a decision. We have to consider the thoughts of our neighbors, and yes, our enemies over the Temple Mount. This piece of land has been in contention for a thousand years and more. We cannot just up and do this without proper due process. ”
David looked over at Elijah as he looked at the speakerphone. His features were contorted and he seemed to be trying to keep himself under control. He scratched at his beard, looked up at the ceiling then looked back down at the device and finally said, “Fine, Michael, like your Director Meyer, it appears that Israel’s leadership does not think Adonai is very important here. It appears that belief and faith have become almost nonexistent in Israel. So maybe you can suggest a sign that only Adonai could do. Maybe He can give you a sign that will make you realize that you have no control other than what Adonai gives you. I am sure He is up to the task.”
“Are you threatening us, Elijah?”
“No, Adonai is.”
“What did you do to Director Meyer?”
“I took away what was most important to him. However, Adonai has given him a way to stop it. All he has to do is recognize that God is in charge, not him. Meyer has a choice. It is similar to the choice that Pharaoh had. You do remember the Pharaoh’s statement? ‘Who is Yahweh that I should obey his voice to let Israel go?’ Then overnight, Adonai changed the Pharaoh’s mind. All through Egypt, the first-born died, except those of the Israelites. Remember this story, Michael, and all of you listening?”
“We all know the story, Elijah, so once again, are you threatening us?”
“Let me continue, Michael. Now Meyer, like many of you need to remember a quote from Adonai regarding Israel. ‘I need to punish them so they know who I am’ then you like Meyer will have chosen your own punishment. This is what Meyer did.”
The room was quiet until after a few moments, muffled conversation could be heard in the background of the speakerphone. Michael came back on the line and asked, “Rabbis what do you think about this situation, and how we deal with Elijah’s questions?”
Rabbi Benjamin, assuming as usual that Yona preferred not to speak first, responded, “I have advised David and his staff that Elijah needs to be tested to determine if he is a prophet.”
He then reached under his robe, pulled out a small book, and thumbed to a page. He put the book on the table, leaned forward and read aloud.
“The Torah's definition and directions regarding a prophet are found in Deuteronomy 18:22, “If the prophet will speak in the Name of Hashem and that thing will not occur and not come about -- that is the word that Hashem has not spoken; with willfulness has the prophet spoken it, you should not fear him.” What this means is that if he has prophesied and it does not come true, then he is a fraud. However, if it is true then fear him.”
Yona finally looked up during the silence and added, “Well I would then suppose,” looking over at Elijah, “that the last prophecy you stated was that if Israel was attacked that you would then destroy that country with God’s plague of locusts, if I remember correctly.”
“Yes, that I did say,” Elijah said.
Yona, looking very nervous twisting his hands with his eyes darting from Ben, David, Elijah to the speakerphone, finally said, “Well…Iran attacked us last night, didn’t they?” He then looked for affirmation from everyone until he heard assents from Michael and the others.
“If then Elijah’s prophecy were to occur, then would that not be the test of the prophet?”
There was dead silence, then David asked, “Elijah you did prophesy this, so will it occur?”
“Yes David, it will. You may already note the rain has stopped in Iran. The sun is out and soon the swarms will destroy every green thing within their borders.”
“Then I agree that this will be the test!” David exclaimed. “How about you, Michael, and the others, will you agree also that this is a fair test?”
“Michael came back on the line and said, “We still need to vote on it, David. I will get back to you.”
“When?” David asked.
“Give me a minute, please,” the conference call was put on hold.
David looked over at Elijah and said, “This is the way it works now Elijah; please be patient.”
Elijah just stared at the speakerphone twisting some hair around his fingers and said nothing in return.
The silence continued until the speakerphone clicked and Michael came back on line.
“David, we need to talk to three other committees to get a quorum on this. Give us a couple of hours. I have recorded our conversation here as I usually do and will replay it to those not present, once I can get them here. Once we do this, hopefully, we will have enough support to allow me to call for an emergency session of the Knesset. I hope that we can get a vote before the day ends. Elijah, I am sorry, but once again, we need to go through our procedures.”
Elijah looked at the speakerphone and said very sternly and with contempt, “You have till sunset. If you deny Adonai, the same prophecy as the Iranians will also befall Israel!”
No one spoke. They may have finally believed him; for it was now in their back yard. When it is your yard then the rules change.
After a moment, David asked, “While we are all together Elijah, do you know anything about this issue in America and the new President, Cain?”
Elijah stood and said, “Yes, I do. More than you may wish to hear at this time or I am willing to tell you. Now I have said before, my main goal right now is the Temple, and only the Temple. These other issues we will deal with in time.”
; He stood, walked to the door, opened it, and walked out.
Chapter 70
8:00 AM Saturday, Bear News Special Morning Broadcast from Kansas City, Missouri
“This is Bear News broadcasting live from Kansas City with John Roddenburg,” the announcer began. Today, in a two-hour news special, we will be covering the news of the day from coast to coast and worldwide. Now, here is John Roddenburg.”
“Good morning America. In today’s broadcast, we will be covering events around the world, which have been in absolute turmoil since the appearance of the Witnesses last Monday. We will be covering the oncoming hurricane, Alex, the attack on Israel by the Iranians resulting in the destruction of the Dome of the Rock, and of course, continued coverage of Enoch and Elijah.”
“We will look at the death of the Vice President and the resignation of President Stevenson, coupled with background on the new President, Robert Cain. We will be covering the upcoming funeral of the Pope and the imminent election of his successor.”
“We have correspondents in Egypt, Iraq, Israel, and Iran and also from Houston, Texas; Biloxi, Mississippi; and from the Waldger meetings at Center City here in Kansas City, which is being attended by the new president of the United States himself.”
We have been notified that the new President will be addressing the nation at 10:00 AM this morning. The broadcast will be covered by all news outlets here and around the world; so stay tuned.
First, let us bring you up to date in Southern California with our field reporter, Brian Wilcox. Brian.”
“Yes John, we are still reporting from Southern California. We are actually in East Los Angeles today, where just like all the other areas, it looks like a war had been fought here. Where we are is one of the highest crime areas in Los Angeles. We had a scary situation early this morning and this is the reason we are reporting from here. The military, and what appears to be a local gang, have exchanged gunfire. The information we have is that there are over thirty casualties. Most of the dead are military personnel, who it appears were trying to force people to board transports to FEMA camps. From the story we are getting, what occurred is that the military had rounded up a large group of people and then some of these people started saying they were not going to board the military transport. Then according to sources here, the officer in charge of the area, Captain Rodgers, came and accosted a man and his wife. They refused to board the vehicle and the man pulled out a gun during a struggle with the Captain. The man then shot the Captain.”
“From that point forward chaos broke out, and within a few seconds all the guardsmen under the Captain’s command started shooting. Many of the people in the crowd returned fire. The result is thirty or more dead and we have no idea how many people have been wounded. Many were either injured or killed, from what we can see here. This isolated incident is a disaster in itself. What we have is the government saying, do this, and the people themselves saying, no; and they are fighting back. It’s anarchy!”
“Is it under control now, Brian?”
“Yes, I think so, John, but I can tell you that once they got the crowd under control, the military tied up at least a hundred people using tie wraps. These people were then loaded into transports and removed to an undisclosed location. We also understand that they confiscated over two hundred weapons from the crowd!”
“That’s a definite problem, Brian.”
“Also, the dead are just lying there and so are the wounded. There are no ambulances. None are available and have not been for some time. This problem is not only here in East L.A. but also the entire area. There are some reservist medics trying to do what they can, but there are just too many injuries.”
“So what you are telling me is that right now we have anarchy in that area?”
“Yes John, I never thought I would see this on our soil; the government and the people fighting in the streets.”
“I agree with you, Brian. Any word on the camps and anything else you can add?”
“No, as we have been reporting we are not allowed into the camps and our movement is quite restricted. If it was not that we were here when the battle in East Los Angeles started we would not have even reported it. We would not have known about it. The military has been quite closed mouth for the past day or so. Excuse me a minute, John, I am being summoned by a military officer.”
You could see an officer speaking to Brian, quite animated with lots of hand and head movements. Finally, they stopped speaking and the camera again focused on Brian.
“The officer here has informed us we are to return to the command center in Pasadena immediately and leave this area.”
“Thank you, Brian we understand your dilemma. You should do as the officer said and return to the command center in Pasadena. We do not want you hurt.”
“We will, John. This is Brian Wilcox, reporting from East Los Angeles, California.”
John turned back to the camera, “As you can see when the infrastructure collapses, people are no longer civil, and that concerns me. I am sure all of us listening, in not only California, but the nation as a whole, feel the same. We have many more disasters coming our way and we need to all be civil to one another. I sincerely hope that incidents like Brain just described do not happen again. This will start with ordinary citizens like me and you being civilized.”
“We will now switch to Houston, Texas where our correspondent Maria Schroeder is standing by. Maria.”
“Yes John, the evacuation is in full force here in Houston. I-10 Eastbound is closed to traffic, allowing only a westbound flow. In addition, I-49 South is closed and all lanes leading into Dallas are now open, heading north in both directions. The 290 is only allowing one-way traffic all the way to Austin. It is bumper to bumper, as you can see behind me. The Rio Grande Valley is also evacuating. I-37 and 77 are also bumper-to-bumper. Today, at NRG stadium, people were arriving to board busses to either San Antonio or Dallas, Texas. The stadium holds 77,000 people and it’s full with everyone waiting for additional buses. However, everyone who did board a bus is most likely headed to either a military base or a FEMA camp. As you know, Hurricane Alex is expected to make landfall around 5:00 AM Monday morning. Officials here only have a little more than 48 hours to empty the city.”
“Is it orderly, Maria?”
“Yes, for the most part, other than a few incidents. There were a few tempers flaring in the stadium, but overall it seems to be working quite well.”
“Thank you, Maria; we will get back to you soon.”
“Thanks, John. This is Maria Schroeder, reporting live from Houston, Texas”
As John turned from the monitor to face the camera he said, “We will be back with more after this break.”
Knowing he was off camera, John grabbed a Gatorade and drank it down. “What’s next?” he asked Don.
“Well, Cairo and Israel then back to US news.”
“Have we heard anything new from Enoch since they left the country last night?”
“Nothing yet, John; if we do, you will be one of the first to know.”
“Thanks, Don. Well I guess it’s time to get back to it, there is lots of news.”
He sat back down in the anchor chair and the countdown went to zero.
“Welcome back; we have our correspondent, Eric Kohl in Cairo, Egypt. Eric.”
“Hello John, it’s a little past 4:00 PM here. You can see that the rain is still coming down. We are broadcasting from Upper Egypt for Cairo is no longer accessible. The entire city is being evacuated. You should know that we are being told that all correspondents are to leave the country by tomorrow morning.”
“So the rain is causing a lot of problems?”
“Yes, and as much as I hate to say it, the death toll along the Nile here is extremely high. The government has not released any actual numbers but we know that in Cairo itself, there are bodies floating in the streets and canals.”
“Any comments on martial law there since it wa
s initiated?”
“No John, I don’t think it matters, for this country is in shambles. I don’t think anyone cares about much of anything but survival.”
“Thanks Eric, I know it is hard there. Any idea when you will be leaving?”
“Within the hour, John; they are only letting us stay here to finish the daily broadcasts.”
“Well please be safe, Eric. We will talk with you soon.”
“Thank you, John. This is Eric Kuhl, reporting from Upper Egypt.”
John turned back to the anchor desk then said, “There you have it viewers. The rain has completely shut down Egypt in Northern Africa. We are now going to Baghdad, Iraq where we have been reporting from the Tigris River. Ann Davies, normally our correspondent in California, has been in Baghdad now for three days.”
John again turned to the screen and said, “Ann.”
“Yes John. We are here where the Tigris and the Euphrates meet, in Basra, Iraq, which is near the Kuwait border. Officials here have started complete evacuations, as in other areas of Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Northern Africa. All along both the Tigris and Euphrates people are moving and leaving the river areas.”
“Is the rain bad there, Ann?”
“It comes and goes, but we are averaging about a quarter inch an hour. I talked to some of the leaders in the area and they have said that at this rate the rivers will be two miles wide in twenty-five more days.”
“The population there is around three and a half million, is that correct?”
“Yes John and it is also one of Iraq’s main ports. Right now the port is open but it seems that they are planning on closing it maybe as soon as Monday, if the rain continues.”
“Do you have any idea where they are transporting people to safety?”
“No, we don’t. They are not doing much in evacuating people now. We contacted the government in Baghdad about evacuation plans. We have yet to get any response from our calls. In addition, John, we are being told we need to leave this area and return to Baghdad; very similar to the orders coming out of Cairo.”
“I understand, Ann. Anything you would like to add?”
“Yes, if there is anyway the rest of the world can help, please open your hearts for these people. Soon hunger and disease will be following these disasters.”