TWO

“Benjamin? You are my son, Benjamin?” I dropped to one knee and took the boy by the shoulders. The shock was intense. My wife Sheri had become pregnant shortly after we were married and carried the child for several months before miscarrying. We held a small memorial service out by the lake, with just the two of us in attendance, floating a small bouquet of flowers out upon the water. We said that if the child had been a boy, we would have named him Benjamin.

Now, looking into eyes that looked remarkably like my daughter’s, with a broad face framed in a mass of dark curls that reminded me so much of my son’s, I knew that this was, in fact, the child that Sheri and I never knew.  “Benjamin, my boy,” I whispered. “I cannot believe this. Praise God! Thank you for meeting me here.” I trailed off, at a total loss for words.

Benjamin stroked my cheek and said, “You can thank the Father. It is He that sent me to meet you. I am an Emissary for the Most High. He wanted me to welcome you personally to New Jerusalem.” Then he kissed me on the cheek and put his arms around my neck, hugging me. I held him there for a good long time, full of joy to see him, full of joy to know him; just full of joy.

Finally his grip loosened, and I released him as he stepped back from me a pace. “We have places to go and things to do. There is a place that I must take you to receive some things that the Father wants you to have. Then you will have someone to act as a guide so that you may come to know this new home of yours. I’m sure you must have many questions.”

“Yes I do,” I replied as I stood. “First and foremost, what about Sheri, the rest of my family…the rest of our family? Where are they? I had friends on the other side…” my mind was ablaze with the desire to find the others.

“Sheri is here,” Benjamin reassured me, “As is all of the immediate family. Someone else has been sent to meet Sheri. Your daughter Lindsey, her husband Bryant and their children are here safe. You will see them soon. I have spent time with my brother, Noah…we have shared an adventure together.” He beamed at this thought, as if he held some marvelous secret. Then, his expression grew somber. “You will have plenty of time to find your loved ones and meet new friends here, because time no longer has meaning. But you must know that not everyone you knew on the other side is here. Some will be coming; some will never see this place. You must not be troubled by this. The Father makes every effort within His gracious righteousness to make this place available. But some simply will not come.”

I nodded, understanding. It was inevitable that some would not answer God’s invitation. I also understood that since we were here, that meant those that had followed Jesus Christ had been “raptured” or taken away from the other side, setting in motion a series of events known as the Great Tribulation. During that seven year period, a man of great evil would come to power on the other side and many would die under his cruel reign. But some would turn to Christ, and hopefully, some of my friends and family that were not here now would join us later. 

“Shall we go?” Benjamin asked. “We must first visit the Armory. There you will meet your guide,” he said with an enigmatic smile.

“Then by all means, let us go,” I said, taking his hand and smiling. “Lead the way, Ben.”

As we walked and talked together, I was amazed at the scope and beauty of the city. But try as I might, I could not keep my eyes and my attention off the boy at my side. This was my son, one that I had never known. He had lived here in New Jerusalem his entire life. I was so thankful for the opportunity to get to know him. It was almost too good to be true.

As we walked across the courtyard and onto a broad avenue, I noted the paving bricks, made from translucent gold. Beneath the surface of each one were scripture verses from the Bible that seem to change in translation and form. In each version, however, I was able to read and understand without any difficulty, even when the characters had been completely unfamiliar to me on the other side. As I listened to the thousands of people milling about me, I realized that my hearing and comprehension had undergone the same transformation. I had the gift of complete and profound interpretation.

Curious to see how that gift affected my speech, I turned to a  man with a ruddy complexion, a busy mustache and large, completive eyes. I said, “Hello! God’s grace to you, my brother!” But as I spoke, the words came out, “Hei! Jumalan armo teille veljeni!” I was speaking Finnish, a language with which I was completely unfamiliar.

The man returned a toothy grin, and replied, ” Jumalan armo sinulle samoin. Nimeni on Antti.” But as he spoke I heard, ”God’s grace to you as well. My name is Antti.” He stuck out a thick, strong hand and I shook it.

I told Antti my name was Phil, and we exchanged stories about where we were and what we were doing when we suddenly found ourselves standing before The Thrones in New Jerusalem. As we spoke, Benjamin stood by patiently, quietly amused as I made use of my new found ability.

As we parted company so Benjamin and I could continue to our way to the Armory, Benjamin surpressed a smile. ”What’s the deal, Ben? Something funny?” I asked.

”I just remember that Noah had mentioned you were a talker,” he replied. ” Now that you can speak and understand every language ever spoken, it may take a while for you to get anywhere in the city,” he said with a little wink. ”But I cannot say anything; I believe it runs in our family.” And with that, he took my hand and led me to the Armory of New Jerusalem.

ONE



I still can scarcely believe that I am here.

One moment, I was driving down the baking, crumbling asphalt of Interstate 65 North, five miles out of downtown Nashville, glad to be able to keep the cruise control at almost eighty miles per hour, glancing up at the big black grill of the four wheel drive Dodge with a lift kit in my rear view mirror. I looked up for just a second….and the next moment…nothing.

Nothing but sound…a sound unlike anything ever heard by human ears. A sound like all the whales of the sea that had ever lived, singing in a consonance of harmony that was impossibly complex and sublimely pleasing to the ears of the soul.

 

Nothing but light…the brightest, purest brilliance I’ve ever seen. It was like the life cycle output of ten thousand times ten thousand suns, compressed in to an instant. Actually, compressed into 160 milliseconds to be exact…the twinkling of an eye.

I cannot tell you what happened to my car. It is my hope that it careened off the road and flipped end over end in a spectacular display of speed, flames, tires and metal, while at the same time managing not to hurt anyone. But in the end, I suppose it makes no difference. I’m sure there were many automobile accidents at that moment, as well as plane crashes, boats set adrift, and general confusion across the entire planet. One more empty car tossed to side of the highway, like so many discarded soda cans would have hardly been noticed.

I can only tell you that I felt drawn out of my car so quickly that it seemed as if I was stretched; that my foot was still on the carpet of the floorboard at the same time that my eyes were seeing another dimension beyond time and space so far away that no technology would ever be able to reach it. Except I was reaching it; I had reached it. I was in a place beyond dimension, time, space, or theoretical multiverses. Not by the means of man, but by the finishing of faith.

In that instant of extra-universal travel, I simultaneously felt both the sensation of travel and of fundamental internal and external change. I was transformed to the utmost; not merely restored…I was completely changed on an elemental and spiritual level.

The closest comparison I can make is something akin to bringing a piece of sunken treasure from the depths of the sea, perhaps some dark, crusted vessel, washing away a thick layer of silt and barnacles and revealing a brilliant gold and jeweled decanter. Then, imagine removing the lid of that ancient vessel to find it not full of decay and filth, but brimming with the spicy aroma of a priceless perfume, freshly pressed from the petal of some exotic, mountaintop flower that blooms once a millennia. As detailed as that sounds, it’s still a poor description. But that was what it felt like; a new creature, full of new thoughts, dreams, joys, motives, and yet…I was still completely me.

But enough about me; I want to tell you about Him. Because He is the reason, I am here. He is the one that came for me, the one that brought me here, the one that sits on The Thrones of this place. He is the one that had to present Himself to us in three different entities, because we could not take all His glory in at once. He has many names; He is everywhere, but His home is here. I know because the first thing I saw when I arrived was HIM.

A Man that is all God and a God that is all Man. All races and no race. Hair like the whitest wool, eyes like the brightest flame. He is garbed in a brilliant robe that is literally clothing of pure energy. Everything I have ever imagined and more than I could ever imagine. You know Him as Jesus, Yeshua, The Christ.

He sat upon His Throne, at the right hand of the Eternal Father, whose Names and description are not all contained in Bible, because no book, not even that Book could describe Him. All books could not describe Him. All universes cannot contain Him. He is simply larger than everything. He doesn’t have the whole world in His hands. He has the whole of everything in His hands. No wonder He told Moses that His name was simply “I AM”; an official introduction would take an eternity.

The third Throne on the left was empty and I knew why. Although His presence is everywhere, the emptiness is representative of His particular presence with Man. The Third one is Spirit. There has been conjecture throughout the ages that when He said He would not always strive with man, that He would leave the other side along with the Church. Now, it is evident that the Spirit has remained on the other side. Of course He has; He still has work to do. He will not always strive with us individually; there comes a time when we surrender to His call or our hope is lost. Only He knows when. Until then, He remains.

Standing there, I realized that I had reached the pinnacle of my existence. I had arrived in New Jerusalem, the only place I should have ever truly called Home. I saw the untold millions of rescued faithful around these Thrones and found myself on my knees before my mind could tell me that I should do so. I fell upon my face and poured every last tear out of my soul, weeping myself completely dry for the very last time, because the presence of the Eternal Father drew the tears completely from me, wiping them away for all eternity.

I sang a new song that poured from me in a torrent that harmonized with the songs of those around me. Every soul sang different words and a unique melody, yet they all forged an intricate arrangement that was like unto every utterance of praise that had ever been performed by man, creature, wind, thunderclap and ocean wave. Cacophony became symphony. It was music that could be heard, tasted and seen.

I felt His hand, HIS hand stroke my cheek, as He spoke directly into my heart. “Well done, son. I am so glad that you have endured. You have been a faithful child. Have you stumbled? Yes, surely. But you have trusted me and loved me, and I have forgiven your failures, perfected you and brought you home. Rest in My grace and mercy.”

I can still feel His touch, even now. He has not and will never leave me. I felt as if I could remain right there, prostrate before Him for all eternity. But after a time, someone else touched my shoulder. It was the hand of a child. When I looked up, I saw a beautiful young boy in a simple white robe with a smooth face framed in dark curls and big brown eyes. He looked at me and smiled in such a way that even though I had never laid eyes upon him before, I recognized the boy at once. “My name is Benjamin,” he said, “and I believe that on the other side, you were my father. I have much to show you and we have many, many people to see.”