Millennium's End: The Rebellion Rises: MILLENNIUM'S END

By Mark Yerkes

In the 998th year of the Millennial Kingdom, the Season of Reaping is at hand.  The demons have been cast into the Lake of Fire and Satan is bound in the bottomless pit, but the biblical prophecies state that he will soon be released so that God can test the loyalties of the current flesh-born generations on earth.

Satan's influence, a spirit of rebellion, is already being felt through the Founders of the Forum, a group of six who have surrendered themselves to the control of Lucifer. The evil they promote is spreading like gangrene. The glorified saints, the faithful still in the flesh, the people of Israel, and the hosts of Angels will all be tested in the days ahead.

Prince Robert Carrigan leads a Triad of Saints appointed to govern the principality of Sylvan Glade, and one overriding question has been on his mind: "How many will be deceived this time and surrender their souls to God's arch-enemy?"

296 pages

• Language: English
• Publisher: Videoparables Press
• Release date: Mar 14, 2018
• ISBN: 9780999806524

Mark Yerkes

Mark Yerkes has an extensive background in entertainment. He has written numerous screenplays and stage plays, and has authored two published books. Through videoparables.org he produces Christian faith-based videos that reach across cultural boundaries. He and his wife Tess split time between California and their home in the Philippines.

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Videoparables Press

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Copyright 2018 Mark Yerkes

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brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Millennium’s End: The Rebellion Rises is a work of fiction.

except for certain persons, events and locales used in the story, all names, characters,

places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, or are

used fictitiously. Any resemblance otherwise to actual events, locales,

or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Scriptures are taken from the King James Version of the Bible

or are paraphrased as necessary.

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Dedication

For our Savior and Lord.

My wife Tess and I

Are looking forward

To eternity in your presence.

Author’s Note

HOW DOES ONE WRITE a novel (or a series of three novels) about the future when the Bible itself says that the best imaginings of God’s people fall short of the extent of their future reality?

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.   (1 Corinthians 2:9, KJV)

As a Christian, I have the highest regard for the Holy Scriptures, and I take seriously warnings not to add to God’s Word or detract from it. They are divinely inspired (2 Tim. 3:16).  They can be thoroughly trusted.  Millennium’s End: The Rebellion Rises, on the other hand, is a work of speculative fiction that, while respectful of God’s inspired word, utilizes creative license and is subject to error. I have striven, with the sanctified imagination that God has given me, to create a work of fiction that honors God’s word.

So that you might investigate the source of many of my biblical understandings regarding the Millennial Kingdom of Jesus Christ, each chapter includes Scripture references that can be found at the back of this book. I encourage you to read the referenced Scriptures for yourself and draw your own conclusions.

Either way, enjoy the read, and may God bless.

Contents

PROLOGUE

1.  Judgment

2.  The Chosen

3.  The Master’s Plan

4.  The Celebration

5.  Conspiracy

6.  The Building Storm

7.   Memory-link

8.  The Intrusion

9.  The Appeal

10.  Subterfuge

11.  Preparations

12.  The Pronouncement

13.  The Cleansing

14.  Repercussions

15.  The Passover

16.  Guidance

17.  Escape

18.  Adjustments

19.  False Apostles

20.  Loyalties

21.  The Council of the Pillars

Epilogue

Endnotes and Biblical References

Character List

Prologue

THANK YOU, MY FRIEND, for taking the time to consider God’s epic plan for mankind. You are already familiar with the past, so I have undertaken to reveal future events; but, compared to eternity, what is time?  The Eternal God, who is and always was and always will be, sees what will be as though it has happened.  And so, for a short time, we will look as through God’s eyes.  It doesn’t matter whether you are reading this before the events or after.  That which is to come is that which was done during the thousand years called the Millennium, the thousand years when the Messiah, the Alpha and Omega, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ established his Kingdom on Earth and ruled from Jerusalem.¹ It was a time like no other in history, a time of worldwide peace that followed a time of worldwide evil beyond compare.

It would take much too long to describe all that happened in that thousand years, yet it seems practical that the stage be set with some introductory information.  More shall be revealed as the story unfolds concerning those last couple of years at Millennium’s end.  And so, at the end we shall begin.

Not all the local and national governments were run exactly the same, even though they answered to the same King.  Each principality was governed, or overseen, by a triad of redeemed Christians who had lived by faith in the age of grace.² They were members of the bride of Christ, that great mystery that is the Church.

These saints were adopted heirs of the Most-High God and co-heirs with Christ,³ and thus they ruled over principalities, which tended to be the more serene of locations with subjects who generally were cooperative, though there could be exceptions.

There were many principalities of all sizes throughout the Earth.  Fully two-thirds of the Earth’s huge millennial population were ruled under this form of governance by innumerable Church saints.  Indeed, the planet held more people than at any time in its history, ⁴ and yet it was not overcrowded.  Christ had broken the curse of sin, so that, wherever He desired, deserts had blossomed like the Garden of Eden.⁵ Land that had been previously uninhabitable was now populated.  Animals of every type became docile, no more predator and prey, for the lion ate straw like the ox, and the wild bear grazed with cattle.  All animals ate vegetation.⁶ Fresh water flowed upward from springs in the depths of the earth.⁷ Food crops were so plentiful that nobody needed to go hungry.  Work was always available to give people purpose.  Human diseases had been eradicated so that people lived much longer lives.⁸ All the greed and selfish interests of mankind had been stopped by the one benevolent ruler who could make all things right for everyone and anyone who was obedient.  But, at the same time, he punished those who resisted his rule.

The second form of governance was much more stringent, going back to the judging of the nations.  When Christ returned in glory, he did so as was prophesied and promised.  He had ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives just outside Jerusalem’s walls, and two angels told his disciples that as they saw him leave so he would return.⁹ And that is how he did return.  He descended from heaven over the Mount of Olives, and after his nail-pierced feet touched the mountain, there was a great roar of noise and an earthquake so violent that the mountain split apart.  Half the mountain moved towards the south and half towards the north forming a deep valley leading to the eastern gate of Jerusalem.¹⁰

Then the Redeemer King went to this gate, called the Golden Gate, which he had passed through the week of his sacrifice.  When he had entered, he heard them cry Hosanna to the King!  Hosanna to the son of David!  And just a few days later the shouts had changed to Crucify Him!  But now, upon his return, the human inhabitants shouted nothing, instead they moaned, for they were struck dumb in terror. ¹¹

The arrogance of men, to think that they could resist God.  The arrogance of men, to think that they could defeat God.  The arrogance of men, to think they could persecute and murder God’s people with impunity.  The valley dividing the Mount of Olives had now become a parade ground through which the nations would pass and be judged.¹²

Those nations that treated the Jews and Christians with the most contempt throughout history, and especially during that seven-year period before Christ’s return, were disbanded altogether.  Their people were scattered around the world without a land of their own, just as the Jews had been scattered for so many centuries.  The nations to which these persecutors were sent were not without guilt themselves, for they also had persecuted God’s beloved to a lesser degree.  Many nations had cooperated wholeheartedly with those who martyred Jews and Christians during the Tribulation period, and now justice was served in answer to the voices of the martyrs who had cried out from below the throne in heaven.  How long, O Lord, holy and true, will you refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth? ¹³

They now received their answer, for the King appointed the Tribulation martyrs to rule over these people, and he commanded that they be ruled with an iron fist.  Punishment would always be swift and harsh when wrong was done, when they rebelled against the Lord.  Every year the flesh-born representatives of these rebel nations were forced to attend the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, and they had to pass each time through the Valley of Decision where they had been judged so that none would ever forget their shame.

The third form of governance belonged to the people of Israel.  They had their promised land at last with all its blessings and benefits.  Each of the twelve tribes was given a portion, and in the center of them all was an area designated for Jerusalem and its workers and priests and administrators.¹⁴

The daily sacrifices were made, as well as sin offerings, and the Passover and certain other holy days and festivals and Sabbaths were honored. This nation of Israel was all that God intended it to be.  As a people they were totally dedicated to the Lord their God, for they could never forget God’s repeated deliverance, especially in those great and terrible days when the Antichrist sought to annihilate their race. God intervened when they finally realized, wept and confessed that Yeshua ha Mashiach was the one they had been waiting for, even though when He first came they had rejected him.  Such mercy! Such lovingkindness!

All the laws and traditions of the Old Covenant had an understandable purpose now.  They could recognize the Mosaic law for what it was intended, a school teacher to show them that they were sinners and that the righteous shall live by faith, and they would never again be tempted to go astray as a nation.¹⁵

Messiah was King over all, but others shared rule with Him over the affairs of the flesh-born Israelites.  Just as the resurrected Church saints shared rule over the Gentile nations, and the resurrected Tribulation martyrs ruled the rebellious nations, so also the resurrected Old Covenant saints shared rule with the Apostles over Israel.  Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Elijah, David, Jeremiah, and a host of others had been bodily resurrected, transformed like the Church saints at the Rapture and the Tribulation martyrs upon Christ’s return.  All of these constituted the first resurrection, and now they shared rule over God’s earthly Kingdom, but they did not dwell on earth.

All of God’s children who were declared righteous by faith and resurrected with spiritual bodies, whether under the old covenant or the new, dwelt in the presence of God in a special place created for them.  The New Jerusalem was the special dwelling that Jesus meant when he said, I go and prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am, ye may be also.  The New Jerusalem was a Celestial City more beautiful than the mind could imagine, for it was a masterpiece of the mind of God, and He designed it for his loved ones as the heavenly home where they could be together.  It was the size of a small planet, but in the shape of a cube, equal in length, width, and height.¹⁶ The saints did not dwell upon it, but within.  It had twelve foundations made of precious jewels in all the colors of those jewels and twelve gates made of pearl, each guarded by an angel, and the interior pathways were of transparent gold and the exterior as pure crystal.  And it did not need the light of the sun or stars, God was the light source that shone from the inside out, gleaming gloriously in the dark background of space like an exquisitely cut diamond of many facets.

Only God and the angels and the resurrected righteous, those whose names were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, could go there; nothing and no one tainted by sin could enter for God is holy.  The New Jerusalem could easily be seen from earth, like a brilliant star, and the people of earth basked in its glory as the redeemed and the angels went back and forth almost instantaneously to carry out their duties in the earthly realm.

There was peace certainly.  The weapons of man had been beaten into plowshares, or whatever other tools were needed.  Nations had ceased to rise up against nations.¹⁷ Oppressed minorities were comforted and elevated.  Oppressive peoples were abased.  Water and air pollution, including the radiation poisoning that men had forced upon the world, were nonexistent, removed instantly by God’s will.  Energy was no longer a concern, for God had revealed the secret to creating all the energy ever needed from simple water.  New modes of public transportation, swifter and safer than anything that existed before, were invented so that people could move long distances in great numbers within a short amount of time.  And yet, people could live very simple lives if they chose.  They could dwell in huge multi-level complexes that reached high into the skies of immense cities, where they had every kind of facility and necessity immediately available.  Or they could choose to live in a rustic cottage, closer to the rest of God’s creation, where they could work with their hands and reap the benefits thereof.  They could live by oceans and lakes and eat from the bounty of the waters.  They could live in Alpine meadows alongside translucent blue glaciers.  They could live in communities that harkened back to Renaissance Europe, amidst romantic canals and stone bridges, but with none of the filth or degradation.  There was no sameness about the Kingdom, rather it was a world of tremendous variety.

All resources were handed down from the bounty of the King.  Still, anyone who was able to work was required to do so, for the old adage was applied, If a person will not work, he will not eat. ¹⁸ Laziness was not tolerated, vagrancy was not permitted, except in those few regions set aside for the obstinate.  Those who found themselves there because of slothfulness quickly realized the error of their ways and repented. Most became quite industrious.

Punishment could take many forms, but it was always with the view of correction.  When reform was not possible, when incorrigibility was found in an individual, or when an offense was very serious, the person’s soul could be required.  In such cases, the final decision would come from the redeemed saints, and what was declared on earth would then be recorded in heaven.  The penalty was physical death.  On the rare occasions when a true flesh-born believer committed a mortal sin, that person would immediately be resurrected to the judgment seat of Christ.  The unredeemed soul would not be resurrected until the final judgment before the Great White Throne.  This would be a resurrection unto punishment.  The Book of Life would be searched to see if their name was written in it, and when it was not found, the soul would be cast into the Lake of Fire where there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth through all eternity. ¹⁹

It is a terrible thing to be cast into darkness and suffer torment forever because one would not accept God’s gift of grace and live by faith.  For this reason, because so much was at stake, and physical death ends all possibility of change,²⁰ the saints who judged the flesh-born in the Millennium were cautious and hoped for repentance before it was too late.

And now, my friends, with that imperfect introduction, our story begins.

Chapter 1:  Judgment

NINETEEN MONTHS BEFORE THE SEASON OF REAPING.

THE WITNESSES STOOD silently.  They had done their part, spoken the truth, and now they waited, along with all who were present.  The local representatives of the earthbound subjects included family and friends of the accused.  The pained expressions on their faces indicated their certainty that justice would be swift and grievous.  There was no doubt in their minds, nor in the mind of Andrew Klassen who had committed the offense and compounded it by denying the fact, though there was no point in doing so.  The evidence was indisputable.  He had committed the terrible sin of slandering another citizen of the Kingdom of Christ, and, in spite of adequate opportunities to repent, according to the evidence uncovered by two angels who looked into the matter and then went to the Keepers of the Books to learn if the charge had been recorded.  It had been.  That settled the matter. The recording angels were faultlessly meticulous. They had to be; lives were at stake.

Andrew stood, facing the dais and the ornate golden seat upon which his judge, the Lord’s saint Espladramich-tryphanustri, known to the people of Sylvan Glade by his title, his flesh-born name, and the name of his principality – in this case, the former Robert Carrigan, MD, was now Prince Robert Carrigan of Sylvan Glade.  Most of the adopted children of the Most High God chose to be called by their earth-born names in this manner, for their heavenly names by adoption were often exceedingly long and difficult to pronounce. But more significantly, the heavenly names were given directly by God and had a special, secret meaning that only God and His glorified child knew.  It was a divine secret, a private spiritual name that designated God’s affection for that saint.  His adopted heirs could call him Abba Father, and God would call them by the name He had given them – a name by which God knew them from eternity past, before they were ever conceived on earth.

The supernatural witnesses were also present.  The ministering angels who had been appointed to oversee the safety of the people in the principality of Sylvan Glade were congregated to the right of the judgment dais, as was their custom.  The dais was three cubits in height and twelve cubits square, like a stage, but with four posts rising an additional cubit above the corners.  It was beautiful and majestic, carved from translucent quartz containing rich veins of gold.  An ornate bas-relief rose three cubits above the top of the dais and extended along the entire back wall of the assembly hall.  From left to right, the artwork began with a scene of Adam and Eve sinning in the garden; then a depiction of Abraham receiving the covenant promise from God; then Moses receiving the law written on tablets of stone; then came a depiction of the temple in Jerusalem and the high priest laying his hands upon the head of the animal sacrifice for the people of Israel.  These scenes, which formed the Old Covenant, ended near the center of the bema. They were followed upon the other side by scenes of the New Covenant.  First came the birth of Christ as represented by the angel who announced the birth to the shepherds that night; then came a relief of the Nativity; then came a scene of Jesus as he ministered amongst the lost and healed the sick; then came his death upon the cross.  This was not an artist’s imagined rendition of what it must have been like to be crucified, taking artistic license; it was the actual scene, as though a photograph had been taken and then made into the engraving.  As such, it was gruesome.  There was no softening of the event for the sensitive viewer; it showed all the gore and cruelty and horror of the crucifixion so that no citizen of the Kingdom would ever forget the price God paid for sins. 

All of the scenes were exactly as they had taken place, including a relief of the Resurrection as Jesus walked out of the tomb.  This was the last scene along the wall, but it was not the most prominent. High above the dais and above the bas-relief, rising up to the stained crystal windows from the dome that illumined the masterpiece, all could marvel at the victorious return of Christ with his saints and angels at the end of the great Tribulation period.  For the sake of the flesh-born, the reliefs would animate when looked upon intensely.  Citizens of the kingdom could see for themselves what had taken place thousands of years ago, and the most terrifying of these reliefs was not the crucifixion scene; it was this return of the Messiah to set up His kingdom.  The people must remember that the King is no longer the servant of his incarnation.  He is no longer the silent suffering Lamb of God; He is the Lion of Judah who is to be revered and obeyed with awestruck fear.

The measurements were by ancient biblical standards, not by metric standard or in feet and inches, as became prevalent in earth’s latter history.  It helped Prince Robert so long ago, when he first arrived in glory, that a cubit was about eighteen inches in length.  He had been an American, so all he had to do was multiply 1.5 times the cubits to arrive at the measurement in feet.  Other measurements had to be learned, but this was an easy starting point.  The dais was eighteen feet square, but the significance was the number in cubits.  Twelve was a divine number: the number of months in a year, the number of tribes of Israel, the number of Disciples of Christ Jesus during his incarnation as the suffering servant for mankind, and a primary measurement in multiples of twelve for the rebuilt temple and so many other structures in the Kingdom of Christ.  Much in the Kingdom was a reminder of a type, or the archetype itself.  The dais was a type of the Judgment seat in the Hebrew tabernacle and in Solomon’s Temple, which was in turn a type of the judgment seat of God.  The dais was also a picture of the altar of sacrifice, with three ramps rising in the front and on each side to its upper surface, and the four corner posts were like the horns of the altar on which the blood of the sacrificial animals had been spilled.

Forty angels stood to the right, and forty adopted heirs of the Kingdom stood to the left.  These saints, men and women from many regions and many ages of history, saints of the new covenant, were in positions of authority over Sylvan Glade, each with their own area of service.

The golden throne of judgment was centered at the back edge of the dais between the scenes of the old and new covenants.  The throne did not belong to Prince Robert, though he was seated upon it.  There was only one who was worthy to sit upon a throne in the kingdom, and that was the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords.  Yet this too was a picture, a type pointing to the bema throne in the city of the King, which since ancient times had been called Jerusalem, but was now also known as Jehovah Shammah, meaning the Lord is there.¹ There were smaller judgment seats in every city, village, territory and region where the local overseers exercised their designated authority and those who sat upon the judgment seats would remind all in attendance, at every meeting of the court with these words: There is only One King who is worthy to sit upon the throne.  In His name and for his glory we seek truth and righteousness and wisdom.  So had Prince Robert spoken at the beginning of this session before he took the seat, while next to him stood two other adopted heirs of the Most High God. 

Princess Katerina Novotna of Sylvan Glade stood to Robert’s right.  She had served the Lord near the city of Kiev, Russia in the Thirteenth Century, a godly woman of the Orthodox persuasion who had lived long by human standards of her time and had proven her faith by good works and perseverance even unto death.  She had protected many orphans made so by invading Mongol Tatar bands, and had suffered martyrdom trying unsuccessfully to hide them during the destruction of Kiev in 1240 A.D.  Her robe of righteousness was the most brilliant of anyone in Sylvan; brighter than Robert’s, and brighter still than the other adopted heir, Prince Rene de Garnier of Sylvan Glade, who had been a Christian scholar and university professor in eighteenth-century France. 

Like every one of God’s heirs, Rene’s presence in the Millennial Kingdom was proof of his saving faith in the only begotten Son of God, but his heavenly attire spoke volumes about his physical life on earth.  There were no secrets hidden among the just; no petty jealousies; no more debilitating shame. His testimony was well-known.  Every saint had had his or her life completely exposed before the judgment seat of Christ, and had received the reward due for his or her works in the flesh – the good and the bad, ² and Rene would not hesitate to admit to anyone that, in his flesh, he had been guilty of religious pride based on human intellect rather than the wisdom of God.  And now, his covering demonstrated both his personal failing, and well as God’s loving mercy.

The poorest, most humble saint who never amounted to anything in the estimation of the world could now be arrayed in a gleaming robe of righteousness, while a popular pastor or theologian might now be in heaven with little to show for their life.  Yet, none of God’s children had reason to be jealous or to boast.  The brilliance of their heavenly dwelling is not their own; it is the reflected glory of the Bright and Morning Star.³  Even those whose works were entirely burned, like wood, hay, and stubble, could rejoice to be safe from eternal damnation, to be saved by grace through faith in the Savior who paid the price for sin on their behalf.  Yet, every one of the redeemed had cause to regret that they hadn’t lived more wisely by surrendering all to their Master.  The heavenly raiment was given by Christ Jesus to reflect how much of Christ and the Holy Spirit had lived through the believer.  As the Prophet Isaiah wrote in the Holy Scriptures: I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God.  For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness.⁴

Rene had neither the most brilliant of heavenly coverings, nor the least.  He had become so preoccupied in his life with the cares of his calling, the work of religiosity, the training of others for godly service, that he had often neglected his own spiritual growth, his own personal relationship with his Creator.  He had stopped listening to the Spirit and had become complacent and prideful, and it was now apparent to all.  But this was not the end of the matter.  God’s love was as real and personal now as it always had been.  God knew Rene’s every strength and weakness, and his King and Master did see fit to appoint him a co-leader of Sylvan Glade.

God’s forgiveness and grace were very familiar to Prince Robert as well.  He never felt he deserved to be a leader of a principality.  He remembered his own sinfulness from his life in the flesh, and over the centuries, He had often been amazed that God would love him and honor him in such a manner. It was humbling. Always, through all eternity, that moment he kneeled before the judgment seat of Christ, having had every detail laid bare before God and His creation, would be with him – would be part of him.  That moment (for lack of a better word, because time had little meaning in the face of eternity), having seen so many of his actions that he thought good and righteous exposed for the self-serving motives that were hidden behind the façade, he thought to himself, What a hypocrite I have been!  He wept.  He trembled.  He thought himself condemned, though there was no condemnation, for the penalty for all of his sins had been paid long ago upon a blood-drenched wooden cross on a hill outside the walls of Jerusalem.  He knew that the Savior sitting there upon his glorious throne was the one who shed that blood for him so that he would not be condemned.⁵

Robert was not being judged to be condemned.  He was being judged to be rewarded for his life, yet he could not help but weep.  A great furnace bathed in pure, hot light, blazed beside the throne, and as Robert’s words, thoughts and actions were recounted by one of the recording angels, he saw everything replayed instantly before him; and, when done, the scroll upon which they were written was cast into the furnace, where it burned and crackled, flamed and smoked, and smelled like burning vanity. Why had he so often considered his own comforts and pleasures rather than concern himself with the needs of others?  Why had he taken this accounting for his life so lightly?  Why had he so often done what he now wished he had never done, and