The Reign: A Future and a Hope

By L G Bracken

:The year is 6049 on the Hebrew calendar and during his millenial reign, King Yeshua has chosen select groups of college students to go on an exciting adventure of discovering observable evidence to support the historical narrative of Planet Earth.

One is conveyed along the journey from the painted mountains in China, to the petroplyphs of South America, to the top of the world, and the topographical aftermath of the Mt. St. Helens eruption. The adventurers record their findings and then travel onward to Jerusalem to gather for the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles.

With more twists and turns than a mountain highway, the intrepid travelers discover much more than cold hard facts. They discover a treasure: the value of faith and trust in the King's plan for each of them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 22, 2016
• ISBN: 9781512745290

L G Bracken

L. G. Bracken has been an avid reader from an early age. Advancing from reading stories to being inspired to write stories, the author has used God-given imagination to craft and design characters and situations that are compelling, honest, and real. Linda lives with her husband in rural Manitoba, Canada.

Book preview

Prologue

I t was the twenty-ninth of Elul, the last day in the forty-ninth year of the reign of King Yeshua Ben Elohim. The year was 6049 on the Hebrew calendar.

Since the first day of King Yeshua’s millennial reign, the world had been at peace. Satan had been locked up in the abyss. There were no more wars. Crime had all but been eliminated; poverty and want were gone. In this new world, all nations and peoples were subject to King Yeshua, and the majority of the earth lived in harmony. Prosperity was the norm as God had intended it to be when he created the world over six thousand years before. Quite simply—love reigned.

Tomorrow was the start of the first Jubilee of the millennial reign. Jubilees marked out fifty-year segments of time. To celebrate this first Jubilee, the capital city, Jerusalem, was decked out in its finest to welcome the gathering of the nations. This year’s festivities marked the fiftieth inauguration anniversary of the leader of God’s free world. Every year was special, but this year was going to be spectacular with the myriad of events that had been planned in the lead up to the fall feasts, culminating with the Feast of Tabernacles, also known as Sukkot.

The sun had set as King Yeshua sat at a writing desk, filling out invitations for future guests. He paused to turn and look out of the large window that overlooked the rose garden. Under the warm glow of lanterns and solar lights, teams of gardeners began to work diligently to put the finishing touches on the venue for a small reception for dignitaries, their families, and a select group of exceptional students chosen to receive special commendations for their scholastic and humanitarian achievements over the course of the previous year.

The yearly gathering at the time of Sukkot was a special Moed, or appointed time, and was an especially busy time. Farmers and gardeners took the short interval between the end of the Shemita cycle and the New Year to prune, plant, and prepare for the final feast of the season. This great feast looked forward to the new heavens and the new earth after the Enemy would be vanquished for all eternity. Sukkot promises dwelling with the Lord forever.

The spring feasts of the Lord were fulfilled precisely and to the letter by Yeshua during the time of the first coming as the suffering servant. His fulfillment of Passover was at the crucifixion, when He became sin who knew no sin, the spotless Lamb that took away the sin of the world. He was hidden in the earth for three days and nights, just as Jonah had been in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights.

The Feast of First Fruits was fulfilled at Easter on the day Yeshua burst forth from the grave alive and victorious. He was the visible first fruit of those who would be raised in immortal resurrection bodies. On the first day of the week after Passover, began the forty-nine days, known as the counting of the Omer. On the fiftieth day, Shavuot, also known as Pentecost, took place.

Shavuot was the celebration of the giving of the Torah on Sinai. It was on this day when three thousand rebels were slain at the foot of the holy mountain. Ten days after the Ascension, Pentecost was the birth of the age of the Messiah. The pattern of the giving of the Torah at Sinai was completed in its fullness at Shavuot, when tongues of fire appeared on the heads of the believers and the Ruach ha Kodesh filled everyone who received the power from on high. Three thousand souls were saved and filled with the Spirit of the living God. With one accord, they praised the name of the Most High. After two thousand years of waiting, the time of the second visitation was accompanied by a great sound and light showing, as the darkness of the world was banished and the King’s reign of light and life began. Every year, the nations gathered with the citizens of Israel to set up the traditional booths and enjoy the feast with gladness, singing, and food. The old saying went, They tried to kill us. We won. Let’s eat. And eat they did!

Meeting and visiting with his subjects was a trademark of the King’s personal touch. With that, he turned back to the task at hand in order to finish and prepare for the garden party. When it was complete, he rang a small silver bell on his desk. With a light tap on the door, an aide walked in, bowed before his Majesty, and asked Sire, what is your request? The King stood up and handed the stack of gold-embossed, linen envelopes to the aide as he replied, Kindly send these out for me. Thank you. The aide bowed as he received the correspondence and made his way to the door. Before he left the room, he asked, Is there anything else, your Majesty? The King’s attention had been drawn back to the garden. No not right now. Thank you.

The King was amused as he watched one of the senior gardeners instruct a junior in the art of pruning. Everything had to be perfect for the coming visitors. Each guest to Jerusalem was treated royally by the people of the land; the gift of hospitality would shine as food and wine and fellowship would flow. King Yeshua knew that this celebration of life was the crowning achievement of God’s new age of restoration and redemption for the earth. Every part of the city and surrounding areas was a flurry of activity with preparations for the influx of guests that would be hosted in lavish style at hotels, inns, bed and breakfasts, and private homes. From the greatest to the most humble, every person would experience an exciting time and would be considered worthy of the finest royal treatment.

For six thousand long years, the Enemy had deceived, abused, and used the people of earth until his reign of terror came to a grinding halt. The King of Kings was given permission by his Father to get on his horse and return to rescue, redeem, and take his rightful place as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

He arrived just before the Enemy could utterly destroy the planet’s population. The final battle had been mercifully short, and the trial and judgment had been swift. The Enemy was charged and declared guilty of the war crimes that had assailed humanity. Then he was cast into jail, along with his fellow criminals, for the thousand years of incarceration.

The day would come when a very brief parole would unleash the venom of the serpent upon the generations who had enjoyed the pristine reign of that Messiah, but that was in the future. Today was the day the Lord had made; it was a day of rejoicing and gladness.

Turning from his perusal of the garden, King Yeshua made his way to a private chamber, where he would spend a few moments talking with Abba before heading out to the garden to lend a hand wherever it was needed.

Chapter 1

P rofessor Chaim Rosenberg strode across the campus grounds toward the ivy-covered building that housed the earth history lecture hall. The leaves were just turning from their summer-green vividness into the warm tones of autumn rusts, yellows, and reds. Under the transforming canopy, the campus grounds were alive with the newly arrived student body of seniors, sophomores, juniors, and wide-eyed freshmen His pace slowed ever so slightly as he watched the eager young people weave along the curving cobblestone pathways in hopes of learning their ways around the stately, sprawling campus. He smiled to himself and wondered how many of these keen, bright minds would grace his class in the coming term. His love of teaching flowed out of his love for his students, and in his almost forty years of academic life, he especially loved the fall semester’s first day.

The first day always represented the proverbial clean slate—all the freshness of teaching the eager learners all that went before so they could be prepared for all that would come after—which gave him a thrill that filled him to overflowing. He looked forward to seeing the familiar information through their eyes as they were told the truth about the earth—the struggles and the triumphs that had occurred over the past six thousand years or so.

As he watched the young people crisscross the grounds, looking at their maps or walking with determined steps to their assigned classes, he remembered how many bright, promising minds had come and gone from this place of learning. He had followed the careers of some of the more notable ones with a certain satisfaction in being part of the shaping of lives that made a real difference in others’ lives.

He was truly blessed, and he felt, without exception, a thrill of pride in those he had been given to prepare for the future. These students were being groomed to keep records of the planet’s history with verity and purity in anticipation of the future day when the Enemy would be granted temporary parole from prison. During that predetermined time, the Enemy would be allowed to go out into the nations for a very brief interlude to weave his lies and deceptions for the generation to come.

Professor Rosenberg knew he had been given a sacred trust to prime the pump of his students’ enthusiasm for learning, speaking, and assimilating the truth into the very fiber of their beings so that when a lie came along, they would know it for what it was because they had studied and were intimately acquainted with the genuine article.

In the pure light of truth, the counterfeit would be glaring in its deceptive falsehood, so Chaim felt it was his task to teach the students, as Paul stated in 2 Timothy 2:15, to study to show yourself approved, a workman who needs not to be ashamed. He was fond of saying to his class on a regular basis, Study and remember what you have learned so the truth becomes part of who you are.

He was passionate, persistent, and persuasive in his pursuit of telling the truth to those students whom he viewed as his offspring. His desire was to pass on to them the necessary intellectual tools for life and growth.

The professor’s musings were cut short as he found himself looking up and admiring the Georgian architecture of the earth history building. He remembered the time, some fifty odd years ago, when the black-garbed terrorists had surrounded the campus with bulldozers, wrecking balls, and explosives. Their evil intent was to level the buildings and destroy anything that championed learning and intellect.

The small coastal town on the northeastern seaboard of the Americas, where the campus stood, had been infiltrated by these people, who began by outwardly professing a love for freedom and liberty. All the while, however, they harbored murderous intent in their hearts. One day, they rose up and declared that their law was the only one; all other laws were under their domination and worthless, fit only to be trampled under their black boots.

Anyone challenging them was publicly beaten or killed. It was a dark time, a night when no one could stand under the oppressive regime that rose so quickly to take charge of society and make war against any opposition.

His memory took him back to the day when he, along with a handful of brave students, faculty, and members of the community, stood in the face of certain death to save the symbols of education and higher learning. They were prepared to lay down their lives for what they believed in—the law of love and liberty. They believed in the written Word and the Word made flesh. They had received the salvation of God. They stood up for the weak and the needy, and they were not afraid of those who could kill their bodies.

In the end, their resolve was firm; they would not back down from these bullies. Even as the bulldozers, wrecking balls, and explosives began their destructive work, the resistance stood shoulder to shoulder, unafraid and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to bolster their faith and resolute determination against all odds.

As they sang and prepared to die, the sky suddenly lit up, and a mighty sound filled the air. The black-hooded ruffians screamed and cried as they tried to get away from the brightness of the white horse’s rider, his words shredding the Enemy’s forces like a sword.

The students cheered, hugged, and wept as they shouted, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! That day was the beginning of the new age: the death of the world’s system and the birth of the kingdom of God. Chaim was there that day, and he was there in the days that followed, as that which had been destroyed was rebuilt by the sweat of the students, faculty, and surrounding communities. The Redeemer had come, and everything was going to be made new. They rolled up their sleeves and began to bring the buildings back from the brink of destruction; it was a perfect picture of what was happening all over the planet and on every level of society.

As he walked up the steps of the earth history building, the professor paused briefly before entering the large double