SPY DISCIPLE (Episodes 6-9)

EPISODE 6

It wasn't allotted to mankind to suffer a fate as this. Only the devil and his demons are deserving of a punishment of this magnitude. But the beloved’s heart broke that it had to come on humans whom God created in His very own image—simply because they wouldn't heed the words of the teacher. The aftermath of the fifth trumpet was horrible! It was deadlier than death itself! A slaughtered defaulter is likely a million times more fortunate than those left behind to experience the unleashing of the fifth woe upon the blowing of the fifth trumpet. But even the beloved’s broken heart and endless intercession couldn’t do much to avert what was coming on mankind. No one could save them anymore. None but the spy. There was no more mercy to be shown! Grace was gone! If anyone would survive, he would have to do so with his own blood! Where was the spy for crying out loud?

The fifth messenger blew his trumpet. Another star immediately fell from the skies. The star had with it the key to the bottomless pit with which it could open the abyss at a time assigned to that purpose. It was now that time, and the star popped open the dreadful abyss. Thick smoke, like that from a large furnace, poured out of it voraciously! Instantly, the sunlight and the air got darkened by the smoke from the abyss. Innumerable locusts stormed out of the smoke and flooded the earth. The locusts possessed the kind of power scorpions possess. They were under strict instructions to harm no grass of the earth, trees, or any plant. The only creatures they were to harm were the remainders who were void of the teacher’s teachings, and as such, were subject to only one thing; torment!

To make matters worse, the power to kill the remainders was withdrawn from the locusts. They could only torture them mercilessly for a period of five bad months. A sting from the locusts was made to be as hurtful as a scorpion’s sting, to bring so much pain on the remainders for a period of five months without them ever seeing the face of death. That was such a horrible fate! No one imagined that such plague would someday come upon the earth. The teacher’s teachings clearly stated these facts. But people simply considered it a myth and baseless illusions. And the ones who were in doubt about the credibility of the teacher’s teachings were the same people who now sadly had to embrace the harsh reality of those teachings. They had the chance to partake in the juicy reality of it. But their foolish wisdom blinded their wide shut eyes so they could only see life under the sun, failing to realize that there is more to the universe than meets a human’s optical eyes.

The locusts didn’t slack for a moment in carrying out their horribly devastating assignment in the earth, as they quickly stormed into human territory to commence their torture. The next five months was going to be hell for the remainders. They could all see the thick smoke that had shielded the sunlight and polluted the oxygen they needed to stay alive. But no matter how much of the smoke they inhaled, their lungs didn’t get bad enough to have a breakdown, leading to their death. They coughed and struggled to catch some breath. But there was no fresh breath anywhere. Their condition was worse than that of men locked in a room filled with tear gas. Just when it was getting overly unbearable, the locusts unleashed themselves on them violently and began stinging them!

In the history of the world, they had been no such wailing as that which came forth from the remainders upon being stung by those locusts. The stings punctured their bodies such that they became like ugly monstrous creatures. Some hid from the locusts. But there was no way they could hide successfully for long. The locusts located every single remainder and carried out its mission on them. The spy, who was earnestly finding his way to the center of these happenings, suddenly began hearing screams and shouts of torments echoing randomly from all locations of the earth. Even his present location was not safe because the locusts were still in the process of spreading all over the earth to unleash themselves on everyone. During the processes of the first four woes, the spy seemed invincible, having not been he was not plagued by any woe. But the fifth woe had a surprise for him.

While the spy was still on his way to locate more remainders to save, he saw thousands of them running towards the path he had come from, as though pursued by something deadly. The spy stopped and watched them, as they kept running helter-skelter in his direction. He couldn’t understand why they were running…neither could he see their pursuer. But then, it crossed his mind that he was on earth to take remainders back in time. And the thousands of remainders he saw pleased him. He only had one challenge, and that was how to get them to stop running and listen to him. So he placed himself in the middle of the road and lifted his both hands up, motioning them to stop and listen to him. But it appeared like he was not being seen by those remainders. They closed the gap between them and the spy, ran over the spy, and continued on their race to nowhere.

If not that death had been withdrawn from the earth, the spy would certainly have died upon being run over by the remainders. It was a stampede. When the spy fell to the ground, he caused many other remainders to fall too. So the others just ran over them in a bid to save themselves from the monstrous locusts that were in pursuit of them. They continued on their race until none of them could be seen anymore by the spy and those who had fallen with him. Neither was any locust seen coming from the way they had come from. Then the spy, surprised and confused, asked those who had fallen with him; “what are you running from?” They told him about the locusts. He wasn’t in doubt of their claim of being pursued by locusts. But the spy couldn't see any locusts, even a long while after the other remainders had run off the scene completely. So he gathered those who had fallen with him and started telling them about the teacher’s teachings and the trip back in time.

They didn’t even wait to peruse and determine the authenticity of his story. They just believed him and opted in—for the trip back in time. Just then, the same remainders who had run over them ahead—were seen running back from the direction they had run to, screaming and crying, with so much terror on their faces. Still, their pursuer could not be seen. The remainders with the spy urged him to take them back in time as he was about to, before the resurfacing of those other remainders. But he asked to be calm and give him the chance to get more people to join in the trip, as he was very interested in saving a larger number of them. The spy sought to talk all the remainders into a trip back in time with him. But the problem still remained that they wouldn’t stop to listen. They were more interested in eluding the locusts than listen to one who, in their opinion, is a fellow remainder.

The spy again went to the middle of the road, raised his hands to motion them to stop and listen to him. Then suddenly, he saw the locusts behind the crowd pursuing them aggressively. The reality of things dawned on him. Even those he had succeeded in convincing to travel back in time—took to their heels on seeing the locusts pursuing the crowd. The spy was left alone in the middle of the road with the crowd running towards him and the locusts chasing after the crowd. If the other remainders who were with him had not taken to their heels on seeing the locusts, he would have just made the ultimate pronouncement and taken them back in time. But they had all left. He had two options: to join the remainders in their race to safety, which would most likely not end well for him—being that the locusts were already close by. Or, to save himself by making the ultimate pronouncement which would take him back in time alone. That would be so selfish of him. But what was he supposed to do?

To be continued…

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EPISODE 7

The spy disciple was everything but selfish. He wasn’t capable of journeying back in time alone just to save himself from the raging locusts. So he shunned the two options he had. Instead, he persisted and dared to try his best to save any of the remainders running towards him from the locusts. Again, he placed himself in the middle of the road, lifted up the magical apparatus and loudly declared; “I can save you if you believe I can.” He kept repeating that statement until the crowd on the run were just some distance away from him. But just before the crowd ran close enough to him and possibly run him over a second time, the spy closed his eyes and uttered the magical word; “Rachamim.” At once, he was gone from the present back to the past. On landing at some point in the past, he was still in horrendous shock due to the danger that was about playing out before his trip back in time.

It was a baffling thing for the spy to open his eyes and see that all the remainders who were running from the locust had heard what he said and all believed he could save them. Because of their belief in the spy’s words, they had all joined him on a trip back in time the moment he uttered the magical word. They were with him. He was so happy. At least he was able to take hundreds of remainders on his third trip back in time. At once, he ordered them to follow him, as he searched for a point where the teacher’s teachings were taught so they’d receive and join the fortunate ones in the third heaven.

Just like the spy’s first trip, the third was an easy one, as his landing point was a point where he, the spy, had shared the teacher's teachings with a group of young folks who skipped a Sunday Service to play football in a school field. In the actual time, the spy spotted these young folks after Service on that faithful Sabbath Day and was burdened in his soul. He had approached them to share the teacher’s teachings with them. But they all declined. However, what was an unfruitful venture in the actual time…turned out to be a soul-harvest on the second chance encounter for the remainders.

The spy did just as he had done in the actual time. But while those of the actual time declined, the remainders all received the teachings and were at once caught up in the air, away from the spy. It didn’t take up to five minutes to accomplish the mission. The spy sat back with his eyes to the sky, watching the remainders who had now become a part of the fortunate once to live forever without experiencing death again. Tears welled up in his eyes as he watched them ascend to heaven. Soon they were lost in the clouds and the spy couldn’t see them anymore. He just sat back thinking of all he had accomplished so far while waiting for the expiration of his time in the past so he would be back in the present to continue his quest. Ten minutes was over soon enough, and he was back!

Meanwhile, the hundreds of fortunate remainders who just traveled back in time with the spy to receive the teacher’s teachings arrived at the third heaven and the attention of the heavenly bodies fell on them. It seemed like a confusing development to them. But the teacher just watched them join the other saints to sing praises to him. It appeared like the teacher was overwhelmed by their praises that he didn’t care to know or find out how they made it to the third heaven after being left behind on earth to suffer doom. Of course the teacher knew it wasn’t possible for that to happen except there was someone on earth making it happen. As far as the heavenly beings were concerned, the only one who was empowered to carry out such mission was the beloved disciple—who declined.

So the heavenly bodies got curious and tried to determine who it was but couldn’t. None of them seemed to know: none but the teacher, from whose eyes nothing is hidden from. But then, he said nothing about it. Instead, he asked for the sixth woe to be initiated, which wasn’t due until after five months. The fifth woe was to last for a period of five whole months. Oh dear! The remainders on earth had just begun experiencing the “locusts’ woe.” The next five months was going to be hell for them. Their only hope was the spy. But out of the millions of remainders who were still on earth, how many would the spy be able to save in the next five months? And talking about the spy, it’s not like he’s invincible. If a locust caught up with him, it would inflict the same measure of pain on him.

However, death had been withdrawn from the earth. The only thing the remainders could undergo was pain, torment, and suffering. As for the spy, the only differentiating factor between him and the remainders was the magical apparatus which aids trips back in time. If he loses that apparatus, it would be over, as he would have to suffer the same fate as the remainders…which is to burn in a raging fire that never goes out. Worst of all, this fire doesn’t kill its victims. It just keeps burning them forever and ever. And the only thing that would stop the spy and any lucky remainder from experiencing such fate was the magical apparatus. On reaching the earth from back in time, the spy hurriedly went forth to continue his mission. The success he just achieved with the last set of remainders was a really great motivation for him. He quickly forgot that nothing good comes easy.

A great apostle of the teacher had even written in his letter to other followers of the teacher, telling them about a great opportunity the teacher presented to him, which was greatly opposed by beasts. It was now time for the spy disciple to understand the situation the apostle was referring to in his letter, as he was about to face great beasts who were now in his way of further saving more remainders; and even himself. As the spy ran off to locate more remainders to do what he came to do, his eyes met an army of gigantic images proceeding out from the shadows. Frightened by the sight, he hid and tried to examine what they were. He couldn’t believe his eyes. They were the locusts. For the first time, the spy saw them as they truly were. The locusts looked like horses ready for battle. On their heads, they wore something like gold crowns, and they had human faces. Their hair was like women's hair. 

Their teeth were like those of lions. On their chests they wore armor made of iron. Their wings roared like an army of horse-drawn chariots rushing into battle. Their tails were like scorpions’ tails, with a stinger that had the power to hurt for five months. Their king was the angel in charge of the deep pit that harbored the deadliest dragon in the world. The locusts’ king summoned all the locusts and matched to the human territory to continue what they started, but this time, with full force. The spy was horror struck! Right in his hiding place, he saw and heard the locusts’ king address his army.

“The earth has been given to us for the next five months,” he said. “Our mission is to torment the people of the earth. Ready your poisonous tails to sting human flesh and inflict a five-month pain on them. This is the purpose for which we have been unleashed. Let us go and serve our master; for we are not like men who refuse to serve their creator. That is why they will have to suffer in our hands. The next five months will be the worst times they have experienced in their lives. Woe on humans!” Immediately he finished making his speech, a voice from the clouds echoed and shook the earth, calling to the locusts’ king to bring him up to speed on the presence of a human in the earth: a spy.

“Apollyon!” the great voice exclaimed. The locusts’ king—whose Greek name was Apollyon, looked up to the sky and responded; “Yes master!” “There is a man in the earth from the heavenly realm,” the great voice continued. “He is stealing my fellow hell-bound souls and leading them to the third heaven with the aid of a mystical apparatus. Locate him and get the apparatus from him. Without the apparatus, he is as good as the rest of my souls. He has stolen thousands of souls so far. Don’t let him steal one more. Now go, and do as you have been commanded.” “Yes, Master,” the locust’s king replied. Turning to his army, Apollyon said, “you heard the words of the master. We have an intruder from the heavens. He is in the way of our mission. Locate him and retrieve the apparatus from him.” The locust concurred and matched off violently in search of the spy and to do to the remainders as they’d been unleashed to do. Luckily for the spy, he heard them. He knew he’d been compromised.

To be continued…

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EPISODE 8

The worst of all disasters had been unleashed upon earth. The teacher’s beloved disciple had warned against these days. He’d written about the locusts and the days when they’d conquer the earth. In his writing, he stated that—in the days when the locusts will possess the earth, mankind will seek death but won’t find it, for the locusts would be under strict instruction to only torture the remainders who refused to receive the teacher’s teachings for a period of five months without killing them. The pain caused by the torture would be like the pain caused by a scorpion's sting. During those five months, the unfortunate remainders will want to die but death will flee from them. Woe to the remainders!

As commanded by the voice from the clouds, Apollyon and his army marched forth into the earth to devastate it for the next five months. Having heard and known that his presence in the earth was no longer a secret, the spy became more careful. It also dawned on him that the mission was not as easy as he thought it would be. But then, he was in it already. He had to guard the mystical apparatus with his life if he was to ever join the fortunate ones in the third heaven again. But Apollyon and his army were determined to never let that happen. The squad was divided into groups and sent out to hunt humans. The various groups went for humans at different parts of the earth while the last group, led by Apollyon, went in search for the spy. The spy was horror-struck in his hiding place.

He couldn’t imagine being wanted by monstrous devilish locusts. At that point, he regretted having taken on the mission. He would rather have remained with the saints in the third heaven, praising and worshiping the teacher. But his compassion wouldn’t let him. Now he is in a position where he can’t save the remainders anymore and is likely to meet his own eternal destruction. The mystical apparatus was his only hope, and he had to keep it safe until the last day of the seventh year. It was still very early, for it had only been three months since he returned to earth. He still had six years and nine months to go. More so, the next five months could just see his mission coming to an end, and his soul becoming subject to eternal damnation. Meanwhile, fame of him had filled the earth.

The remainders became aware that there’s a man on the earth who has the power to change their fate and help them escape the woes that were devastating the earth. It turned out it wasn’t only the locusts that were in search of the spy…the remainders had now joined in the search. Soon, the locusts found their way to human territory. From the spy’s hiding place, he could hear their wails and screams and his soul was troubled. Each time he tried to step out of his hiding, he saw a group of locusts surveying the area. It seemed like those sets of locusts had been told to remain at that point and prey on any remainder that crossed that path. So the spy was stuck in his hiding place. There was no way he could leave that environment without being spotted by the locusts. So he kept calm but always checked to see if there would be a chance for him to make leaps in the right direction.

Over at the third heaven, serious preparations for the sixth woe was in progress. Over two hundred million war horses were being prepared to invade the earth in five months’ time and kill a third of the remainders. Their riders were clothed in fiery-red and dark-blue, with yellow armor on their chests. The heads of the horses looked like lions, with fire, smoke, and sulphur coming out of their mouths. They were to be led by four of the teacher’s angels who’d been tied up beside the great Euphrates River for millenniums, waiting for a particular hour, day, month, and year to unleash themselves on the remainders and destroy a third of them. Their mission was to commence in five months’ time and they couldn’t wait for the sixth angel to blow his trumpet and unleash them on the remainders.

Unlike the fifth woe, the sixth woe was allowed to claim human life. A third of the remainders will be wiped off the face of the earth when the four angels tied beside the great Euphrates River and their battalion are released upon them. The remainders will be destroyed by the fire, smoke, and sulphur which proceeds from the mouths of the battalion. Once a third of the remainders have been killed, the sixth woe will be over, giving way to the seventh and deadliest. The fifth woe was still plaguing mankind. They thought they had seen the worst. They knew not what awaited them upon the blowing of the last two trumpets. Sadly, three months passed without the spy taking any remainders back in time. Even he, the spy, had not as much as stepped out of his hiding for those three months.

There was never a chance for him to do so, as territories were never void of locusts. He was starved. He hadn’t eaten anything those three months. Ulcer and other hunger-provoking ailments struck his health as a result. Yet, death wouldn’t claim him, for it had been withdrawn from the earth. The only thing left was suffering, torture, and all sorts of affliction; one of which had now caught up with the spy. It got to the end of five months and the spy still remained hidden in his hideout. During the course of those five months, the locusts had done their worst to the remainders they laid hands on. Their five months affliction was going to end in two hours and the locust woe would be all over. Just then, the locusts who had scattered in groups and circulated all over the earth—came together and assembled themselves at the same place they started off their mission. But they didn’t return alone. The various groups came back with large numbers of remainders who they had taken captive, hoping that the spy was one of them. So they brought those remainders to Apollyon so he would examine them and determine which of them the spy was…and then take the mystical apparatus from him before the two hours they had left was over. Over ten thousand remainders were gathered to that location, and the spy saw them all from his hideout. Then Apollyon began fearsome interrogation.

“Which of you is the intruder from the third heaven?” Apollyon asked. His question remained unanswered, for no one really knew who the spy was. They only heard that there’s someone like that on earth. Apollyon got outraged and screamed in much anger again saying; “which of your damned souls is the intruder from the third heaven? Deliver him to me or be damned forever!” Then a very embittered man, who had been overly tortured by the locusts for the past five months, rose in anger and replied Apollyon with the following words; “even if the man you seek is here, we wouldn’t hand him to an ugly monstrous sick creature like you. We would rather have him change our fates and release us from your devilish abduction. And talking about damning us forever, I tell you that you do not have the power to do that. Even as you speak now, you are a damned creature. I read about you in the beloved disciple’s letter to the teacher’s followers. You can neither damn us nor even touch our lives. All you can do is torture us for five months. And your time is over. You will be gone soon.”

In anger, Apollyon reached out for the man and stung him with his poisonous tail. The other locusts joined him to inflict much pain on the man. They stung his eyes, nose, ears, naval, and every sensitive part of his body. He screamed in pain and the others broke down in tears, stricken by much horror. When Apollyon was through dealing with the man, he threw him on the ground and left him to suffer pain since he wouldn’t die from the torture. Then Apollyon raised his voice and asked once more; “who is the intruder from the third heaven? Release him to me now or suffer like this man just did.” The shivering crowd began uttering randomly; “we do not know him. He is not here with us.” And again, the man who Apollyon had just harshly tormented raised his weak voice and said again;

“Even if he was here, we wouldn’t hand him to you. We would rather have him change our fates and free us from your torment.” From his hideout, the spy heard the man’s words and thought to himself; “if I come out of hiding and declare my identity to the people, they would believe, and I would utter the magical word. Then we would all be gone back in time.” While he was contemplating on whether or not to act on that thought, Apollyon cruelly tormented the remainders who were there. Their cries and wails got to the spy, and he couldn’t take it anymore. He at once stepped out of hiding and loudly declared; “people of the world, I am the one from the third heaven. I can save and deliver you from these locusts if you believe I can. If you believe I can save you, just say I believe, and I will utter a word that will take us away from here to a place where you will have the chance to rewrite your fate.”

Immediately he raised the mystical apparatus in the air, Apollyon saw it and confirmed that he was the said man from the third heaven. But instead of the remainders to simply say “I believe,” they turned to Apollyon and said; “that’s the man you are looking for. Take him and leave us, we beg you.” The spy was shocked by their words. He couldn’t believe the very people he risked his soul to save were handing him over to the beasts he had come to save them from. Tears rolled down his eyes. He became downhearted. His emotions made him lose guard. Then from nowhere, a locust’s tail suddenly stung him from behind, and he fell to the ground, letting go off the mystical apparatus from his hands due to the impact of the sting. And then, slowly and gently, with a feeling of conquest, Apollyon began walking towards the spy to get the mystical apparatus. Having gotten pretty close to the fallen spy, Apollyon let out a devilish laugh and declared thus to the spy; “it is over.” But, was it?

To be continued…

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EPISODE 9

Seeing that his mission had come to a quick end, the spy lamented greatly over his soul, for the loss of the mystical apparatus would subject him to the fate of the remainders. Apollyon was now standing right beside the mystical apparatus, ready to pick it up and deliver to his master. But the remainder who had confronted Apollyon at first and told him they wouldn’t deliver the spy to him even if he was there, spoke up again. This time, he placed a curse on Apollyon. In the anguish of his soul, he lifted up his voice and said: “till time ends, you’ll never be anything more than a monster. We’re humans, fearfully and wonderfully made in God’s image. In what can be termed jealousy, a heavenly body had questioned our creator over the value he placed on us humans, for we are deemed a little lower than heavenly messengers of the blissful paradise. But you’re nothing like us! You’re a mere slave! Slave!”

Continuing his cursing, he added: “you are subject to eternal damnation. You originated from the abyss, and to the abyss you shall return. We refused to receive the teacher’s teachings, that’s why we suffer all we suffer today. As a matter of fact, there is a man from the third heaven who possesses the power to stop these sufferings. We are still redeemable. But you? You are a damned creature! No one can redeem you from damnation! Not even that bloody dragon you call “master!” Not even him!

On hearing the man’s words, Apollyon fell into a rage and went back to the man, leaving the mystical apparatus and the spy. On getting to the man, he lifted him up like a piece of balloon and unleashed a measure of torture that was only meant to be experienced by the damned souls in the boundless pit of eternal destruction. The rest of the remainders couldn’t stand the sight of the torment. They were so horror struck and cried out to the heavens for safety. When Apollyon heard them crying out to the heavens for safety, his fury got triggered the more—like that of a scorned woman. Then he extended his punishment to them. He soon remembered he had limited time on earth. So he ordered one of the locusts who had the spy in his custody to bring him the mystical apparatus so they could depart and make way for the next woe. Just then, the clouds turned into fire. The earth became illuminated by light from clouds of fire…such that none on earth could find his way around. It was the sixth woe.

Two hundred million war horses were approaching the earth from the sky. The horses had faces like humans and were spitting fire, smoke, and sulphur from their mouths. It was a combination of these three elements that turned the clouds into the fire that illuminated the earth. The four messengers of the teacher who had been tied up in the great Euphrates River had just been released to lead the two hundred million fierce horses and their riders to kill a third of the remainders with fire, smoke, and sulfur which proceeded out of the mouths. Apollyon understood that his time was up and the sixth woe had come. Immediately he made effort to locate the mystical apparatus before he and his army were withdrawn from the earth. But the light from the clouds illuminated everything in the earth and rendered everything out of sight. But Apollyon, in an effort not to disappoint his master, tried his best to use his senses to trail the apparatus. While he was doing that, the spy, as well as the other locusts, were also trailing the mystical apparatus. Luckily for the spy, he got to the apparatus first since it was quite closest to him. As soon as he laid hands on the mystical apparatus, he loudly declared the remainders: “people of the earth, I can save you if you believe I can. Just say ‘I believe’ and I’ll utter a word that will take you to a place where you will have the chance to change your fate.”

Immediately the remainders heard the spy, they all lifted up their voices and screamed repeatedly; “I believe.” But before the spy could utter the magical word and take the remainders on a trip back in time, the locust that had him in custody got hold of the spy and tied its tail round the spy’s neck in an effort to strangle him and keep him from uttering the magical word until the mystical apparatus was retrieved from him. The spy tried to withhold the mystical apparatus and keep the locust from getting to its reach. But then, he fast became weak and couldn’t hold on any longer. If not that death had been withdrawn from the earth, the spy would have choked to death. The locusts ran his hands all through the spy’s body until it touched the mystical apparatus. Then he informed Apollyon loudly, “I’ve got it!” Apollyon ordered him to wait till their last minute on earth so they’d vamoose with it. 

They were to depart from the earth by shrinking and giving way for the sixth woe. But then, it so happened that it had gotten to their last minute and the locusts had already begun shrinking. The process of their departure from earth had commenced already. The locusts couldn’t make further moves. They became like still monuments while their bodies shrunk in bits into the air. Even the locust that strangled the spy, which already had its hands on the mystical apparatus, couldn’t do any more than hold on to the apparatus while shrinking into the air in bits. Slowly but steadily, the shrinking continued until the locust were all gone. The moment the locust’s tail which was tied round the spy’s neck shrunk, the spy fell to the ground with the mystical apparatus still in his hands. 

At that moment, the great illumination disappeared and the earth returned to its normal state. The illumination was only meant to last for the period of transition from the fifth woe to the sixth woe. Then everything was in sight, and the remainders could see themselves again. However, there was something else they saw, which their eyes didn’t really want to see. Up in the clouds, the remainders could see the two hundred million human-faced horses approaching from the clouds with fire, smoke and sulfur proceeding from their mouths. In just sixty seconds’ time, the troop would reach the earth and start off with their ruin of a third of the remainders. So the remainders all ran to the spy and urged him to save them. But the spy was lying unconscious on the floor. The locust had strangled him to the point of death. But he couldn’t die because death had been withdrawn from the earth.

So he fell unconscious, and no one knew when he would to regain consciousness. As a matter of fact, he had only sixty seconds to regain consciousness and utter the magical word that would take him and the remainders back in time. All the remainders had already believed he could save them. The only issue they now had was how to make him regain consciousness before the end of sixty seconds. The clock was ticking! The smoke from the two hundred million human-faced horses approaching from the clouds had infested the earth by now, and all that could be heard of the remainders were the coughs of each other…including the spy who had gotten knocked out of consciousness by the smoke. Voices of the remainder kept uttering words randomly. Some were saying, “I’m dying,” some were saying, “I can’t breathe.” Others were screaming: “save us.” Still, others were saying, “God, help us.” Even the spy, having been knocked out of consciousness by the thick smoke, made efforts to utter words. But unlike the remainders, he wasn’t lamenting his ill-fate or calling for help. He was trying to say something that sounded to the remainders like: “Ra… Rach… Racham… Rachamim!”

As it turned out, media and news outlets—which had become privy to the spy’s presence on earth, deployed their satellites to capture his activities in a bid to vet whether or not he truly transported certain remainders back in time. The question, however, that they didn’t ask themselves was: “if the spy could actually transport certain remainders back in time, would their satellite coverage extend to that time to equally capture what becomes of the spy and the remainders over there?” Well, there was only one way to find out…and that was for the spy to travel back in time with remainders as at other times. The good thing about this particular time is that all the world watched on TV to verify if there was actually someone on earth who could transport repentant remainders back in time so they’d stand a chance with salvation, bail out of the tribulation, and land themselves in heaven.

Therefore, upon the spy’s regaining of consciousness and proclamation of Rachamim, not only the repentant remainders with him got transported back in time with him but also all repentant remainders who watched on TV, leaving behind only the unbelieving, unrepentant remainders. Most fortunately for them, they landed back in time—at a moment when a community of believers had gathered to treat each other bible-centered discussions that usually made for exhortation, edification, encouragement, spiritual growth, mind renewal, nonconformity to worldly values, accountability, cleansing, righteousness, peace, joy in the holy ghost, rededication of life to God, even repentance. Hence, upon finding themselves in that moment, the remainders joined the community of believers and did nothing but watch and listen intently to them, longing for the moment when a sort of call will be made for those who are willing—to turn their lives over to God…and so the moment begins!

To be continued…

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