THE SWORD AND SICKLE

CHAPTER ONE: WHISPERED WORDS

The Sword and Sickle

PART ONE

CHAPTER ONE

WHISPERED WORDS

"Ariel will speak deep from the dirt like a ghost and a whisper from the dust. The LORD's great army will bring forth thunder with earthquakes, great noise with twisters, rainstorms, and the flames of a consuming fire will suddenly visit a large number of nations who fight against the Lion of God. All those who fight her or come against her fortress, and who distress her will be like a hallucination, a vision of the night. They will be like a hungry man who dreams he is eating, then he will wake and find he is still hungry. When they dream, they will be like a thirsty man who dreams he is drinking and awakens weak with his need for liquids not satisfied. Therefore, it will be for all the nations that fight against the Mount of David, the holy temple of Jerusalem.

Be amazed by yourselves, and be astonished by your greatness; be blind and be blinded by yourselves! For Yahweh will pour out its spirit and make you blind, mute, and illiterate. Your prophets will be speechless, your seers will be sightless, and the Scriptures, unreadable, for the book is now sealed. Someone will say to read this, and the person will say, "I am unable to read."

The Voice of Prophecy: Chapter Twenty-Nine, Verses 1–6

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Isaiah 29:4-7, 12 (According to Levi Jackson)

Our Soul's Soul

Dangle master keys—ring forth harmonious arias, sing in us lyrical melodies—

Stroke, caress, and employ us—we will not find endless life in a book.

We will not find everlasting life on earth or under it—

We will only find it in the most Holy of Holies—our soul's soul.

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In the early morning hours of April 12th, two thousand eighteen, the President of the United States, Jovian Hammett, was asleep;.... It was the first year of his first term of office. Eight inches of heavy spring snowfall left the nation's capital paralyzed, and when the wind switched from southwest to northwest, it turned everything into a frigid wonderland. At three a.m. Jovian awoke with a start, and he could not believe his dream. It was an auditory dream, if it was a dream. It was a whisper in the night, and it was clear and distinct. Every word chimed distinctly in his mind. Worry not, my children. I am coming soon, and it is time for you to awaken from your slumber. The phrase was repeated three times. It had a mysterious significance that kept him awake. The Vice President and the President's wife, Glenna, had traveled to Europe today for the funeral of the German Chancellor, and this night the President found himself sleeping alone. His secretary of defense had traveled to Afghanistan for a morale trip for the U.S. peacekeeping troops that were expected to stay for another two years after the recent escalation of hostilities in the area before returning stateside for a long overdue rest. The agenda called for them to tour several other countries before returning to D.C. in seven days. As President Hammett turned over in his bed, he noticed the novel that he had put aside the night before. After cracking the book, he put it aside and instead reached over to open his Bible and turned to Matthew 26. He read the entire chapter. As he wondered about the significance of his dream and the chapter, he slowly drifted to sleep with the Bible in hand.