The Mark

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

June

Thomas savored the last bit of pie. A second piece would definitely be doable, but would it be wise? He shook his head and put the fork down on the plate. Maybe tomorrow.

"Another piece of pie, Charlie?"

Robin stood and carried her dessert plate as well as Thomas' to the sink.

"My heart says yes, but my head says no. Thanks, though. Fresh strawberry pie with real whipped cream... Robin, why didn't you marry me?"

"Thomas asked first."

Thomas jerked in his chair and looked over his shoulder at his wife who was still at the sink behind him. "Because I asked first? Is that the only reason you married me?"

"That and the fact you had a lot more money than Charlie." Thomas

saw his wife wink at Charlie as she put her plate in the dishwasher. "Don't feel bad, Thomas," Charlie teased. "She's a bit old for me anyway."

"Neither of you are making me feel better," Thomas laughed as he stood and picked up his coffee cup. "You were such a squirrelly freshman, Charlie. You were pretty lucky to have such nice seniors in your Spanish class." "Lucky? If I recall, it was Spanish II and neither of you would

have passed if I hadn't worked with both of you. Anyway, I think just

knowing me keeps the two of you young!"

Thomas led Charlie into the family room. He sat on the couch next to Robin and Charlie grabbed an armchair with an ottoman. It had been months since Charlie had been over, and Thomas was look ing forward to catching up. They just didn't see each other as often as they would like, but when they were together it was like old times.

"By the way," Thomas leaned back and crossed his legs, "the food was great the other night."

"Yeah, Chef Fredo sure knows how to put on a great barbeque."

"Fredo? Like Alfredo?" Robin smiled. "Yeah. Short for Frederic. He's French."

"How much do you work with him?" Robin reached for Thomas's

hand and he naturally gave i to her. "During the summer, I'm with him almost every weekend. Fri days and Saturdays. With weddings and graduation parties, we keep pretty busy."

"On and off. I have a couple of corporate accounts that I update

"What do you do during the week? Are you still doing Websites?" on a regular basis, and I do some work for a few individuals. It's not very consistent, but the catering pays the bills."

"Okay, so... are you dating anyone?" Thomas squeezed Robin's hand when she asked and she turned to him. "Come on, honey, I waited until after dinner to ask. You've got to admit, that's pretty good for me." "Where are the girls?" Charlie winked and Thomas knew he was

changing the subject.

"They're at their grandparents until Thursday. And they're do ing fine. But enough about them-back to the matter at hand. A girlfriend?"

"Well, I'm kind of glad you brought that up," Charlie started.

Robin let go of Thomas's hand and raised her arms above her head. "I knew it! We don't hear from you for half a year and there's a woman in your life."

"Now don't go jumping to conclusions. Actually, I'm too busy for a girlfriend right now."

Thomas shook his head and squinted his eyes. "A little bit of Web design and catering doesn't fill a whole week. What do you mean?" It always seemed like Charlie had an excuse to put off relationships.

"What I mean is that right now is not the time for me to even be looking for a girlfriend." Charlie took his feet off of the ottoman and leaned forward, and rested his elbows on his knees. Thomas could see the seriousness in his face, and he wondered if perhaps Charlie was ill.

"This may sound crazy to you, but I wanted to come over tonight because I have an agenda. I wanted to talk with you two about the return of Jesus."

Thomas released his breath and said, "Thank goodness-I thought

you were going to say you were sick. Now what is this about Jesus?"

"Well, I know you both are Christians and I feel an obligation to tell you what I have been doing for the past couple of years." Thomas furrowed his eyebrows, not sure where this was leading. "I have been involved with a fellowship of men who study eschatology..."

"Essca-what?" interrupted Robin.

"Eschatology," he answered. "It's just a fancy term for end times. We've not only been studying the Bible, but we have been studying current events. Between the increase in world famine and weather catastrophes a lot of people are saying it's the end of the world. But I think there's an even better reason." Charlie paused a moment, rub bing the back of his neck with his hand. "The Russian president is a man of interest."

"What do you mean?"

"He single-handedly negotiated with the Arabs to give the Jews back the Temple Mount. He stepped in when America could no longer protect Israel and has ushered in a peace they have never before ex perienced. He negotiates with the surrounding Arab nations with no

restrictions and is rumored to be working on a one world currency." "So he's a great politician," said Thomas, still a bit confused. "What does this have to do with Jesus? I'm just not following you."

"I think Alexander Magorum might be the Antichrist. I think we may be heading into a time of great persecution here in the world."

Thomas was still trying to figure out what Charlie's agenda was, when Robin piped in. "Well, then we're out of here. What are you so worried about?"

"What do you mean?" asked Charlie.

"I mean that we'll be raptured before the Antichrist comes into power, so is that what you are trying to tell us? The rapture is going to happen soon? What do you want us to do about it?"

"Robin, the reason I am here is to warn you."

"Warn us? Of what?" asked Thomas, looking from Robin to Charlie and then back to his wife.

"I know that this may sound radical to you, but I believe the Bible teaches that we'll still be here when the Antichrist begins persecuting the church."

"You mean the Jews," corrected Robin.

"No, I mean the church." Thomas noted a force behind Charlie's words.

"Are you one of those people who don't believe in a rapture?" Robin continued. Thomas knew she was much better studied on this topic than he.

Charlie took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair. "I believe in a rapture, and like you, I believe it comes before God's wrath on the world is poured out. I just place that event in a different place on the prophetic timeline than you."

"But Charlie"

"Hear me out, Robin. Give me just a few minutes. Daniel 9 gives us the timeline for the last seven years of history. Most agree on this point. The seventieth week of Daniel will begin with a covenant that Israel signs with the Antichrist, though at that point they don't know his real identity. Halfway through the seven years, he desecrates the temple and demands the worship of the world. You know what I am talking about, right?"

"Yeah, we're with you," answered Thomas.

"When the disciples come to Jesus and ask Him what to look for be fore He returns, like a sign or a signal, He starts to tell them that things on the earth are going to get bad-wars, famine, false christs trying to lead men astray. Then He says-this is in Matthew 24-He says that when the Antichrist which Daniel prophesied about desecrates the temple, believers need to go into hiding, because the Antichrist is go

ing to bring upon the world a tribulation like it has never seen before." Thomas listened intently, but he noticed that Robin was starting to fidget.

"Jesus even says that the Antichrist's rule will be cut short so that the elect would be saved or else all of them would be killed. Then, the sign to look for before He returns is the natural lights in the sky going out and then He'll return for His children."

"Can I talk now?" Thomas didn't like the curtness in Robin's tone. He flashed her a look, but she didn't back down. "That's a nice little story, but I am afraid you have a lot of your details screwed up. You know my father is a minister and he even wrote a booklet on this for my church when I was growing up."

Thomas watched Charlie receive this information. He wasn't sure what was going on in Charlie's mind, but he decided to just let Robin handle this one, since she at least knew what she was talking about.

"The first thing you are missing is the fact that the church is gone

for this time. You'll agree that the book of Revelation describes the last days?" Thomas watched Charlie nod in agreement, as Robin con tinued. "Well, early in the book, like around chapter four, the Lord calls John up into heaven to give him the vision to write down. This is actually symbolic of the church being called up into heaven before the beginning of the end times."

Thomas could hear the teacher coming out in Robin. The sarcasm was subsiding, and since Charlie wasn't interrupting, she continued to instruct.

"So, that is the first proof that we are gone. Secondly, 1 Thessalo nians 5:9 clearly states that we are not going to be put through the wrath of God. Another proof that we are gone. Thirdly, Matthew was not written to the church-the church didn't even show up on the scene until Pentecost. It was written to Israel and is instructions to the Jews as a nation. So you can clearly see that once we are taken, the last days begin."

Thomas felt her ease back a bit in the couch. They sat in silence for a moment and then Charlie leaned forward again.

"I know this is an emotional issue. The thought of being here through a persecution that will make the h*******t pale by compari son is obviously not a pleasant one. I also know that the first time I heard this, I didn't like it either. But I am asking that you just con sider the possibility. If you read the seals in Revelation, they line up with Christ's teaching perfectly. All the way up to the lights in the heavens going out. Then, between the sixth and seventh seal there is a whole chapter break. I am just asking that you read it and tell me what you see in that chapter."

"You're just wrong, Charlie. The end times has nothing to do with the church. We're gone. We're not here. It's for the Jews." Robin set her jaw, crossed her legs, and folded her arms across her chest, as if that was the end of the discussion. Thomas knew that posture and it wasn't good. He decided then to reenter the conversation.

"When you began all this, you said you wanted to share with us what you have been doing. Did you mean studying? Is that what you have been doing for the past couple of years?"

"Yes, there has been a lot of studying. This is not a whim. But I also have been preparing."

Thomas tilted his head to one side and reached up with his hand to rub his forehead. "What do you mean, preparing?" "This fellowship that I am involved with believes that Jesus in

structed His children to hide when the persecution begins. We have been preparing a hiding place outside of town. An underground bunker of sorts. It will house about two hundred people, and I want you to know, there's room for both of you and the girls, if you want to come."

"When? Like now?" Thomas wasn't sure what Charlie was suggesting.