Shadows of Eternity: The Great Tribulation

By Jocolby Phillips

THREE AND HALF YEARS AGO, THE WORLD CHANGED FOREVER

BILLIONS DISAPPEARED, CITIES BURNED, AND BILLIONS HAVE SINCE DIED

DRAVEN CROSS'S ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT OPPRESSES ALL WITHIN ITS REACH

THE ANCIENT BATTLE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL HAS BROUGHT THE OMEGA TEAM AND THE WORLD TO THE SHADOWS OF ETERNITY.

Shadows of Eternity is the f

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Warrior Fiction Publishing LLC
• Release date: Mar 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9781736001769

Jocolby Phillips

Jocolby Phillips serves as an active-duty Army Officer who's had many adventures traveling the globe and serving his country; his current career field is counter-proliferation. Jocolby lives in Florida with his wife and three children. The Rapture Series is his debut Christian fiction writing adventure.If you want to know more about Jocolby and his current projects, please visit him atFacebook.com/@christianwarriorfiction

Book preview

42 Months into the Tribulation.

Kingdom of God

The Two Witnesses, Reuel and Eliyahu: age unknown, God’s ambassadors to the Earth. The two men daily proclaim God’s message and challenge the rule of the Beast, aka Draven Cross. Proclaim they will minister to Israel, the world, and the Beast for 1260 days. Status: active. Present location: Unified Arabian Region, Wailing Wall, Jerusalem, Israel.

Christopher Barrett: late thirties, former leader of the elite U.S. Special Operations Unit, Omega. Considered the most wanted international fugitive of the U.E. Status: active. Last known location: the Unified African Nations Region, near Cape Town, South Africa.

Jackson Williams: mid-forties, former team sergeant of the elite U.S. Special Operations Unit, Omega. Remains an international fugitive from the U.E. Status: active. Last known location: the Unified African Nations Region, near Cape Town, South Africa.

Dr. Gabriella Costa: mid-thirties, former director of the CIA, former Intelligence Chief for Omega. Gabriella continues her recovery with her Omega teammates after being imprisoned. Status: active.Last known location: the Unified African Nations Region, near Cape Town, South Africa.

Gilana Edri: mid-thirties, former Israeli Mossad agent. Believed to be working with Omega. Status: active. Last known location: the Unified African Nations Region, near Cape Town, South Africa.

Gemma Sutherland: mid-thirties, executive secretary to the U.E. Secretary-General, Draven Cross. Supports Christopher Barrett and his team through her unique placement and access to Draven. Status: active. Last known location: the Unified Arabian Nations Region Headquarters, Jerusalem, Israel.

Kingdom of Satan

Draven Cross: mid-forties, called the Beast by primary enemies, the Two Witnesses of God. Was the U.E. Secretary-General and first political leader to lead a unified world government. Religious fanatics assassinated Draven in Jerusalem. Status: presumed dead. Last known location: the Unified Arabian Nations Region, Jerusalem, Israel.

Evan Mallory: late-fifties, Deputy U.E. Secretary-General; founder of the Interfaith religion. Called the False Prophet by the Two Witnesses of God. Propagandist and image bearer for Draven. Status: active. Last known location: the Unified Arabian Nations Region, Jerusalem, Israel.

John Barnes: late-thirties, Commander of the U.E. Special Activities Group; hitman for Draven. Tasked by Draven to hunt down and eliminate the Omega Group. Status: active. Last known location: the Unified Arabian Nations Region, Jerusalem, Israel.

Pontiff Conti: mid-fifties, leader of the Interfaith World Religion. Promotes unity and peace narratives by Draven Cross and Evan Mallory. Co-conspirator in Draven Crosses assassination plot. Status: active. Last known location: the Unified Nordic Nations Region, Oslo, Norway.

REVIEWS OF PREVIOUS BOOKS:

Rapture: Advent of The Last Days

Amazon reviewer, Jo: The author has done a fantastic job of weaving a Biblical account of the end times around the stories of a handful of soldiers and politicians that were left behind. He takes scripture by scripture, verse by verse, and prophecy by prophecy to tell the story of Earth after the Church has been raptured. Every page is an invitation to believe now before it’s too late and an outline of the way to salvation available even during those awful days. Every Christian should have a copy of this book in their home for loved ones to find during the actual events that the book portrays!

Amazon reviewer, AC: A great book that really gives a picture of the end times as described in Scripture. Extremely well written with interweaving character point of views that put you right in the action and grip the reader from beginning to end. This novel brilliantly shows the juxtaposition of the just judgement of God and the loving mercies he shows. Can’t wait for more!

Amazon reviewer, Michele: "I gotta be honest … I’m such a terrible lector. I rarely get to finish the books I start. But this one … it’s a MUST. So much vulnerability, truth and wisdom.

Sometimes books picture the gospel as something mystic or full of fairytales, but this book represents it like truly is. It reminded me how we can encounter God between our struggles, that we don’t need to be perfect to become close to him and how our actions could have a positive/negative not only in ourselves but the people around us".

Rise of The Beast: The Tribulation Begins

Amazon reviewer, Ramona: I enjoyed the first book in this series and this 2nd book certainly did not disappoint. I found myself wanting to know what happens to the main characters, while not wanting the book to end. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys action-packed stories. The author makes the story relatable and interesting to a wide audience. I am excited already to read the next book in the series!

Judge, 29th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards. This is a fantastic story that made me want to find the first book of the series! Phillips is a talented writer with a gift for action. The dialogue and motivations of the characters feel authentic, a bonus that potentially comes from Phillips’ real-life experiences. Readers will appreciate the action of the story with a consistent background of hope, courage, and self-sacrifice. Well done! I will pick up the rest of the series!

Wrath of The Lamb: The World Takes Sides

Amazon reviewer, Megan: This book continues the compelling story of life during the events described in the book of Revelation. The fast-paced action and engaging characters made the book a quick read, as I felt invested in knowing how the story would unfold. This book is full of intense drama playing out in the lives of the main characters, and I love how it points to ultimate truth found in the love of God. I can’t wait for the next book to be released! Definitely recommend reading this series whether you have an interest in the events of Revelation or even if you are unfamiliar with it!

Amazon reviewer, Kelli: I am enjoying this series so far! I started the first book, halfway through it I knew I would want the 2nd book, and ordered it. Halfway through that book, I was even more invested and ordered the 3rd book! Now I am really looking forward to the next installment (hurry up, 2023!!) I especially like how the story draws you in and makes you want to re-read Revelation because you want to understand it better. I will be buying all future books in this series!

Judge, 30th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards. There is plenty of action. Anyone interested in covert ops where it is ‘us against the world’ will enjoy the story. Melding different cultures, the author helps readers understand their wit and humor. On pg, 176 they write That woman is tougher than a piece of beef jerky left in the Alabama summer sun. Humor mixed with terror is good.

Chapter 1

Heaven. Satan once loved Heaven more than any other place in God’s created worlds, but his pride led him to view himself as God’s equal. His love for the celestial city departed eons ago. The separation from God was unbearable and fueled his hatred of God’s beloved humans, a truth he could never share. Why am I permitted to return here? Is God torturing me? Am I torturing myself? He thought back to when the Father called him Lucifer before he became God’s adversary.

Satan’s brow furrowed as angels ignored him or glared as they did God’s will moving about the luminous antechamber of God’s throne room. Satan found pleasure in creating a stir amongst the spineless followers of God each time he appeared in the Third Heaven. Satan’s hands trembled with thoughts of his diminished status as he stood isolated from the angels once beneath him.

The former anointed cherub was the only thing in Heaven that did not reflect God’s glory. Satan believed God creating humans sealed his fate. When he pointed out the great I AM made a mistake in creating humanity in the image of God, God pushed him and the angels that supported his view out of Heaven.

As a golden trumpet signaled the call for the messengers of God to present themselves in the throne room, Satan concluded his thoughts. As he walked with the other angels, Satan prepared to level fresh accusations against humanity. Why could God not admit the humans never worshipped him as he had done? Humanity lied to God’s face the first chance they got in the Garden of Eden. Humanity has destroyed the Earth for greed and pleasure, killed without cause, and has a heart that seeks only selfish desires. Yet, I am punished, shunned for all eternity.

Satan squinted at the holiness of God emanating from a majestic archangel approaching him.

Satan, instead of seeking forgiveness over the millennia, you’ve come before God in vain to accuse humanity of sins you’ve influenced. You will find no vindication here.

Gabriel, you will never see the big picture. You’re a slave to the mercy of God. The humans you blindly defend are disgusting and unworthy of God’s love. Most don’t believe in Him, and those that do only care because they want something. Take a moment from your groveling at God’s feet to look at human history. I miss very little from Heaven and you’re not on the list. Gabriel, you’re nothing but a pathetic messenger and remain beneath me. Leave before I force you to call Michael to save you.

Satan turned his back on Gabriel before walking into the presence of God.

Gabriel’s comeback caused Satan a moment of hesitation before he crossed the threshold to the throne room. Satan, your pride blinds you from the sin that fills your heart and your influence on human history. Pride separates you from God. Your day of reckoning is coming. You will spend eternity wishing you could repent, considering the fate awaiting you.

That’s a dark thing to say, Gabriel! Satan shouted as the throne room doors closed behind him.

Satan had little time to dismiss his encounter with Gabriel as the atmosphere of God’s throne room overtook him. Satan and the angels immediately fell face down in the saturating presence of God. The throne room was a boundless temple of worship, filled with chants of adoration to the God of the Bible. Unlike the other beings around him, Satan felt no urge to praise or worship the Lord. It was an ever-curious sensation for him to feel a sense of awe for God’s throne room despite the countless times he entered the space.

The throne of God sat on a distant shore of what appeared to be a vast, transparent sea. Satan knew that the sea was a physical manifestation of God’s purity, which starkly contrasted with the defiled Earth in the distance below the sea of purity. Satan was one of three angels to stand at the far shore directly in front of the Great I AM, a testament to his former rank in Heaven. The holiness radiating from God caused the area in front of Him to glow like fiery stones.

From his prone position, the adversary of God peered up. The four beings that never grew weary in exalting the creator of all things flew through the emerald rainbow encircling God’s throne, drawing Satan’s eyes from the golden floor. The beings cried out praises to God above the infinite rumble of thunder and flashes of lightning emanating from the throne. Seraphims with their six wings circled the golden throne, completing the ethereal scene surrounding God.

Twenty-four Elders, clothed in dazzling white robes and golden crowns, were next in the layers of brilliance and worship focused on God. The Elders, always acknowledging God’s greatness, fell to their faces and removed their gilded crowns. The heavenly ministers repeatedly called out, "Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things; by Your will, they exist and came to be.

Satan was amongst endless rows of angels awaiting their moment before God. In the Shekinah of God, he sensed how unworthy he was to occupy the same space as El Shaddai. Satan’s status pressed his mind, as he was the least ornate participant in the worship hall of God. The Prince of The World lay on the dazzling golden floor, seething and wondering why God allowed him to be here. Why do I compel myself to accuse humanity of sin?

Immediately, the answer came to Satan’s mind: pride. He fought the unyielding voice that demanded him to stand, which echoed like a rushing waterfall above the surrounding worship. Satan resisted God with all of his might. He willed his limbs to remain rigid against the pull of God’s presence each second the anguish of fighting God increased. Slowly, he was dragged toward the Sea of Purity. Satan’s hands clenched into fists, and his jaw tightened with each step. At the sea’s edge, his knees bent before the fearsome throne of God.

Satan, God the Father said.

The adversary fell once again to the floor face down as God’s voice penetrated him to his core.

The Father continued, "You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: carnelian, chrysolite, and emerald; topaz, onyx and jasper; lapis lazuli, turquoise, and beryl. I made your settings and mountings of gold; on the day I created you, they were prepared. I anointed you as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day I created you till wickedness was found in you.’

I have heard the cry of my children during this season of tribulation. Your Antichrist and false prophet have led many astray, but your influence over the Earth will close soon. God issued his final warning into the heart of Satan.

Satan tried to scream profanities and blaspheme the name of God, but had no control of his body. God’s voice echoed in Satan’s ears the decree that the next time Satan was in His presence, he would face his judgment. After God’s edict, Satan was flung from Heaven toward the Earth. The closer to Earth Satan drew, the more control over himself he gained. Satan knew what needed to be done. He needed a physical vessel to possess.

This recent experience in Heaven reminded him of his aim to destroy humanity. If my time is short, I will bring suffering and death to the world and God’s beloved humans like they’ve never seen.

*

Chapter 2

Satan stood on a miserable and desolate plain. A realm of the spirit world named the Abode of Demons that he knew well. It was the land of those drawing Heaven’s strongest censure after the war he led in Heaven. The knowledge that God’s presence was near but eternally out of reach because of their choice drove the prisoners mad with rage.

At the precipice of a black void in the ground, thick pillars of sulfur-infused smoke and char rose from its depth. Satan stood next to the abyss. The pit before him had no end or beginning for those in its confines. The piercing wails of the tormented never stopped as the demons were bound by the chains of darkness around them.

In countless attempts throughout the ages, Satan had tried to free those within the bottomless pit. No demon would believe him as he watched a maggot wiggle across the decaying bottomless pit key he held in hand. It was the last divine key Satan owned; his nemeses Jesus took the other keys to Death, Hell, and the Grave from him after an epic failure at the Cross.

Satan moved toward a sizeable earthen lock on the opposite side of the abyss. He stuck the fleshy key into the lock and turned it, watching in shock as it dissolved. Satan’s fury caused his hands to tremble as he noticed no change in the environment, indicating his success.

As he was about to give up, the smoke and wails of pain ceased. The noise of an unfathomable number of chains dropping rushed from the pit. Moments later, a torrent of demons streamed from the abyss. The demons circling above Satan were frightful abominations of the natural and spirit worlds that took many shapes and forms.

Satan held his hands above his head toward the darkened and ash-filled sky, screaming and blaspheming God in ecstasy as eons of frustration faded away with the abyss opened.

Hordes of demons chanted a name Satan hadn’t heard in an immeasurable number of years as they landed all around him. The demonic mob called the name of one of his original lieutenants in all the languages of Earth and the spirit world: Apollyon the Destroyer, Angel of the Bottomless Pit.

The sea of demons parted and paid deference as Apollyon walked toward Satan. He had the head and torso of a black bull, with two pairs of broad, vein-filled black wings extending from his back. Blood-soaked massive white horns and eyes lit by the fires of Hell adorned his head. His human-like arms were snake-scaled, rippling with muscle that led to clawed hands. Apollyon’s legs were those of a black locust. The most striking feature of the Destroyer was his tail. His tail was that of a red and black scorpion with a salivating stinger darting through the air as he walked.

Apollyon drew near Satan, towering over his dark lord. You dare show your face before me. You left us to suffer God’s wrath.

Satan cursed so furiously that a hush fell over the demons and forced Apollyon to his knees. You forget your place, Apollyon. I won’t justify myself to one who is lower than me. I have freed you. That is all that matters. Now punish whom you can on the Earth. Force them through pain and destruction away from Him!

Satan watched as Apollyon waved his hands, and demons departed for the Earth. Apollyon was the last demon to leave Satan’s side. I am not doing this for your pride, but for my revenge. I wish I could see your face when God puts you into that pit.

Your time will come before mine, Apollyon. Execute your purpose before I put you back into the hole I saved you from, Satan said.

With his act of vengeance underway, the distant wails of the countless unrepented souls trapped in hell drew Satan’s sights back to finding a physical vessel. He knew exactly who to target. He laughed as he moved toward the soul of Draven Cross.

*

Chapter 3

Draven gasped as an overpowering stench of rotting meat and sulfur filled his nose, awakening him. He wanted to move, but his arms and legs were stiff and numb. Pain raced across his body as he unthawed on a damp earthen floor. The wet floor on his skin pushed thought into his foggy mind. Where are my clothes? A deep sense of despair lingered in the rancid air, adding to the dread growing in Draven’s mind. He sensed this place was some sort of prison. As his dry eyes moistened, improving Draven’s sight, he saw other cells, confirming his fears and providing context to the dimly lit room around him.

Come to me. Draven heard the familiar voice of his master, Satan.

Where are you? Draven’s voice echoed off the rock walls. Draven’s physical senses were becoming more attuned to the environment, and distant wails drew him out of his cell toward the likely source of the voice. Draven tried to make sense of his new environment. He felt alive but detached from everything he knew. Perhaps, those vile witnesses had me captured and brought to a secret prison? His senses grew more attuned to the nightmare coming into focus around him. Where am I?

A dirt corridor led to a set of stairs. Cells flanked the hallway on either side that looked like the one he had emerged from. Though the other cells had closed doors, while his had been open. Draven’s curiosity and fear pushed him to walk to a closed cell door and peer into the void, hoping to see another person’s face. Draven grasped the bars of the cell, pushing his face forward. Hello?

He screamed as a living corpse grabbed him. The low light of the hallway showed the skin of the person in front of him, sagging and discolored in deep blue and purple hues. A shiver ran through Draven as he failed to pull away from the nightmare holding him.

The stench of death engulfed him as the creature spoke. You’re doomed here. We’re separated from Him forever.

The person let Draven go, causing him to fall to the sloppy floor as maniacal laughter erupted from all the cells. Other disfigured people emerged to taunt him. He ran toward the staircase and burst through a wooden door, stumbling into his well-adorned office. Everything was here, from the oversized mahogany desk he’d taken from the U.N. Headquarters before destroying New York City to the Italian marble floors. Draven’s butter-soft leather chair faced away from him and never looked so good as it did at the moment.

Come to me. The voice of Satan stopped Draven. His pride overtook him, realizing Satan was sitting in his seat.

What is the meaning of this? Is this yet another of your visions, where you try to scare me into fulfilling your wishes? Draven asked.

Satan’s laugh caused Draven to step back toward the wooden door. Draven, you believe you’re something special, don’t you? Satan said, whirling around to face his minion.

Draven fell to the floor at the vision of the man sitting in his chair; it was him. For a second time, he had seen Satan appear as himself. The first time was right before …

Draven buried his face in his hands as Satan laughed. Is it sinking in? That’s right, Draven, you’re dead. I told you for months that your time was growing short, yet you did nothing to stop my enemies. Enjoy the reward for failing me.

Draven sniveled. I’ve done everything you asked. How could you let my enemies kill me?

Satan stood over a cowering Draven. You’re like all the others! A weak and lowly human! He created humanity below the angels, yet humans believe they’re God. Like your predecessors, you’ve run your course, but you have the privilege of being the last.

The last what? What do you mean by others?

Satan snapped his fingers, and in an instant, Draven stood in a lush garden, watching a beautiful woman take a bite of ripe fruit. Satan snapped again, and Draven stood on a vast plain with a blazing noonday sun shining on thousands of people building a city and tower that reached toward the heavens. In the next moment, he saw himself speaking to the world, explaining the disappearances