Authors: Shawn Hopkins
Scott stole a glance at Jennifer and the agents around her packing up to leave.
“Melissa confirmed that the gem is actually a sort of lens, an instrument maybe used for viewing coded texts. The top is polished, but the underside is refracted.”
“You’re saying it’s like a decoder ring?”
“Maybe the first.” He turned back toward the tent. “The
Urim
and
Thummim
stones were somehow used to interpret the will of God. This ring that Solomon built out of the
Urim
seems to also function as some kind of an interpretation device, as well as being a key. Perhaps light would shine through the lens and illuminate a word or letter, or maybe the refracted lens would unscramble a text. Who knows? But we do believe that this ring is the key that the Copper Scroll speaks of.”
“The key that was supposed to be with the duplicate copy.”
“Right.”
“Except that the duplicate copy was found by the Templars along with the other ring.”
He shrugged. “Maybe the key that the 1953 scroll speaks of is the key to the Ark, and the key that was supposed to be with it was the one that was supposed to interpret them both. I guess no one can really know until they try reading it through the lens of the
Urim
. In any case, all four objects are needed, and until recently, only one was missing.”
“That would explain the strange letters throughout the Scroll, if they actually appeared as something else through Solomon’s ring.”
Malachi nodded. “The Scrolls were fashioned in such a way that only the ring could decode them.”
“That would mean that Benaiah was somehow able to get the ring back into the priesthood’s possession.”
“In order for the rings to be compatible with the Scrolls, yes, Jeremiah had to have had access to both of them.”
“What about the other ring?”
“Melissa said that her team was given the description of another material, a dark geological object. She was told to find similarities between the two. It would stand to reason that this was a description of the other ring, of the
Thummim
stone. They wanted her to figure out how the two could function together as a single unit without exposing her to the ring itself.”
Or that’s what they told her while NASA constructed their hoax around both objects
, he thought.
“What did she say about the other one?”
“She said that the material they described, the data they sent her, was unlike anything she had ever seen before.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing. She just said she didn’t understand what it was they gave her and why they assumed the two substances had any relationship to each other.”
“That’s it? Nothing else?”
“Nothing.”
“What do you think?” Scott asked.
“I think that Father Baer might have been right about it being some kind of judgment on those unworthy of its use. I think it has supernatural ramifications. Perhaps more so than this one.”
“That’s it? That’s all she had?”
“More or less.”
No, they would have already known that.
They didn’t need Melissa or NASA to find that out. This knowledge, if it were true, had been passed down to them from the Templars. They wanted the diagnostics of the rings to better work them into their planned deceptions. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to take this to my boss.”
“Why not just get rid of it?”
“Because that is not what I was told to do.”
“But that’s what Benjamin was planning on doing, wasn’t it?”
He stopped. “The intentions are the same. The ring will not be attained by those who want to use it for evil.”
“Benjamin thought that
any
use of it would be evil.”
He nodded. “The Temple will not be built through the use of this ring.”
“Then why not make sure of it?”
He just smiled, slapped him on his good arm. “Take care, Joshua. We’ll send the Blackhawk back to get you. It will take you to New York.”
Scott knew he was lying about the ring, that he was hoping the Ark might restore Israel as God’s center of the world, that with its power they might cast off the globalist yoke, the very thing Benjamin had been trying to prevent. “You leaving now?”
“In ten minutes.”
“Thank you again.”
Malachi nodded and stepped out of the tent, into the rain and toward the helicopter.
Scott let his gaze drift over the commune and didn’t see any sign of preparations being made to leave. He looked back to his wife, then to Malachi. He was standing in the center of a triangle, three different points all shouting for his help. Swearing under his breath, he ran after Malachi. “Wait!”
Malachi stopped.
Feet sloshing through the mud, Scott tried to slow down when he reached Malachi, but his foot slipped and he went barreling into him, almost knocking him down.
“Sorry,” Scott said.
Malachi shot him with an irritated stare.
“I slipped.”
“I have a flight to catch, Matthew, Joshua, whoever you are. What do you want?”
“What about Melissa?”
“She’s sleeping. Ralston said they would care for her.”
“You’re just leaving her?” Scott asked with feigned disbelief.
“She is in no condition to travel.”
“After all she went through, you’re just going to leave her out at the curb with the trash? The only reason you have the ring is because she risked her life to steal it.”
“As you said,
she
risked her life. Nobody forced her to.”
Scott turned away from him. Was anything fair in this life? “Whatever, Malachi.” He started walking away from him. “Take care of yourself.”
Malachi shouted back to him, “Be ready and stay with my men. The helicopter will be back in a few hours. Don’t miss it.” And he turned and trotted off into the woods, toward the helicopter.
Scott returned to Jennifer’s side. Her lips were a shade of purple and her face resembled that of a ghost.
“Aren’t you cold?” she managed to get out through rattling teeth.
He was okay for the most part, until a gust of wind would come along and stab icicles into his chest. “I’m fine.” He zipped up his hooded sweatshirt that had managed to open and reveal a patch of v-shaped skin. “I’m going to start a fire, okay?”
She didn’t say anything but was able to work her lips into a tight smile.
“Hang in there.” He kissed her frozen lips, and another flood of incomprehensible thoughts and feelings warmed his soul. He walked back out of the tent, noticing the three remaining Mossad agents still packing up some items as the Blackhawk lifted into the sky and disappeared into the sea of dark clouds above them. He was on his way to gather some soggy sticks when a familiar voice sounded from behind.
“You’re back.”
Scott actually smiled before turning around to face Ralston.
“Yeah, I’m back.”
“And you brought a woman with you.”
This time he couldn’t hide the smile. “My wife.”
Ralston mirrored the expression. “Back from the dead.”
“Back from the dead.”
“She looks cold,” he stated. “Come on, Mr. Scott. Let us meet your needs.”
“I’d appreciate it.”
“Go get your wife and bring her over to my home.”
As he began walking away, Scott called out to him. “Hey, Dan? Sorry about before.”
“No need for an apology. I can be a little forward sometimes. I’m just glad you’re still alive.”
By the time Scott had Jennifer to Ralston’s door, Ralston had a fire going, and his place was nice and cozy. In another room, Scott helped Jennifer out of her wet clothes. She looked slightly embarrassed though, like this wasn’t how she wanted him to see her their first time together — half naked, soaking wet, shivering, and purple. So he just wrapped the blanket around her and took another minute to hold her, to pray for a miraculous escape from the coming soldiers. “Go sit out by the fire,” he whispered. “I’ll be right there.”
Once she walked out of the room, he took the books from his jacket and made sure they weren’t completely soaked. He was surprised to find out just how well they had faired. Some of the edges were wet, and the ink on one of the first pages was bleeding a little, but that seemed to be the extent of it. He picked up Jennifer’s jacket and checked the pockets to see how wet they were. There were two outside pockets on both sides and then one large zipper pocket inside at the left breast. He stuck his hand in it. It was dry. The jacket was heavy, water and wind resistant, and 100% polyester on the outside. The pocket was safe and big enough, so he slid the books into it.
And then he took the ring out of his pocket.
The one he’d taken out of Malachi’s when he pretended to lose his footing and fall into him. He looked at it for a second, pondering just how Malachi had planned to use it without having access to the other ring and scroll. Or maybe he
did
have access to them. He wondered again if he could be working with the secret societies. But that didn’t make sense. But then again, who knew how many different groups wanted it and for how many different purposes? Father Baer told him not to trust anyone for a reason. Or maybe Malachi hoped that the “lights” ring and the 1953 Copper Scroll together would be enough to reveal the Ark’s location.
It didn’t matter now. He dropped it in the pocket along with the books and zipped it. Then he walked out of the room and joined Jennifer and Daniel.
****
Jennifer had fallen fast asleep, curled up in a fetal position with her head resting in Scott’s lap after drinking a cup of hot tea, and now Scott was moving his fingers through her hair while talking with Ralston.
“You know what’s going to happen when they come, right?” Scott asked him. Their eyes were locked on the fire, its sporadic dancing hypnotizing.
“Whatever God wants to happen.”
“You’re not going to do anything?”
“Like what? We have nowhere to go, and we have nothing to fight with even if we wanted to.”
“You’d stand a better chance if you made a run for it.”
One side of Ralston’s lips turned up into a smile. “No, we’ll face our fate together rather than die alone.” He blinked. “When they came for Jesus, to crucify Him, Peter fought to protect Him. He took out his sword and cut off one of the guard’s ears. And Jesus told him to put away his sword, that all who take the sword shall perish by the sword. He said, ‘Don’t you think that I can pray to my father, and he can give me more than twelve legions of angels?’ And then when He was talking to Pilate He told him, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.’
“I’m ready to go home, and so is everyone else here. Besides, how could I fight the very ones I’m supposed to love? How am I to exhibit the character of Christ by fighting for my own freedom? Jesus laid down His rights, His life, for His enemies. He’s called us to do the same. Think of how different history would have been had there not been Christian martyrs willing to be strapped to the stake. Persecution has always made the church stronger, Matthew. Never weaker.”
Scott said nothing, his mind grappling with such a bizarre concept. He looked down at Jennifer’s sleeping face, shadows shifting back and forth across it.
Ralston rubbed his chin. “Jesus was in Israel while it was under Roman occupation, most of the Jewish people waiting for a Messiah who was going to come and cast off that yoke. And it was within that sociopolitical and religious context that Jesus laid down the example His followers were to emulate. No talk of revolution or war, patriotism, or anything like that. He even cried out for God to forgive those who had crucified him. So I find no scriptural basis that would allow us to take up arms against those who might be coming to persecute us. The reason we are in this position, I believe, is because the church needs it. Desperately. When material dreams slip away, when leisure and luxury are gone, when personal freedoms are taken away, then everything becomes crystal clear to the believer. We can see things through the eyes of eternity again, realizing that this place isn’t our true home and that to die is actually gain. We remember that we’re told not to fear what man can do to our bodies, but to fear the One who has authority over the soul. We learn to rejoice in our sufferings, counting it as all joy. We recall what it means to love our neighbors as ourselves. And we become fully aware that the most important thing in life is not liberty, or democracy, or our paychecks. Dying to self, not
killing
for self, is the foundation of true Christianity. And so this is the refiner’s fire that has come to our land to rebuke the church.”
Scott looked over at him. “Then how do you justify your being here? Hiding out in the middle of the woods, separated from the practicality of all you’re saying? Did Jesus retreat into the desert to hide from the world?”
Ralston dropped his head, smiling humbly. “I believe that is why they are coming. God is using them to correct our selfish ways.”
“You think it was in vain?”
He shook his head. “I would never say that. This was just part of our learning process. Had we not come here and isolated ourselves, we may have ended up in a concentration camp with an attitude reflecting bitterness, resentment, and all kinds of things unfavorable to our testimony as followers of Christ. Now, if that is our lot, we are more equipped to enter into it as Christ would. Everything has a purpose.”
“You truly believe that?”
“I do.”
Scott looked back into the flames, thinking. “I saw what they were doing to the prisoners in the facility…”
“The people that are coming for us need Christ just as badly as anyone else. How else will they ever see His face if we don’t reflect it before them?”
“So you’ll be missionaries to prison guards? You’re crazy.”
“This life is but a shadow, just the twinkling of an eye. Does it really matter how we leave it? Whether it be now or tomorrow or fifty years from now? What matters is what awaits us when we do leave, what matters to us is that we hear God’s voice declaring, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant.’ In the end, that’s all that
can
matter. So, if God wants me to represent Him to these awful men, as he wanted Jonah to, then I’m willing. It’s a small price to pay in light of eternal glory. The Apostle Paul said that the sufferings we endure here in this life aren’t even worthy to be compared to what awaits us in heaven.” He shrugged. “And then again, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said to Nebuchadnezzar, ‘If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace.’”