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Excerpt From Book Three, Soul Savior. Woe!

By Lyn Leahz on September 30, 2012 • ( 1 )

Woe!

An excerpt from Book Three, Soul Savior, in my Eternal Soul Series.

Khalid and his sixteen devoted followers had just parked side by side in a vacant parking lot in Beirut, Lebanon. Khalid had a sense of comfort inside of himself; for him, this was home. “I feel warmth in my heart here because I grew up here in Lebanon; it makes me miss my family that much more. These are the people of my youth, and I am additionally passionate about the welfare of their souls.”

Jakim was curious, “What part of Lebanon did you grow up in?”

Khalid replied, “Ashrafīyah, in East Beirut; behind the Green Line.”

Kevin inquired, “Why do they call it the Green Line?”

Khalid remembered crossing the green line on many occasions with his father; and one of those times got him executed. “It was represented on maps in green because unofficially, it was the border separating Beirut into Muslim and Christian sides during the Lebanese Civil War, which lasted all of the way from 1975 to 1990. At that time, Beirut was literally devastated, leaving everything it had ever been in shambles. It has taken a long time for Beirut to recover from the scores of damages.”

Chad glanced around, “Yeah, I can see what you’re saying.”

Business buildings were intermixed with apartments, houses, and slums, having the appearance of a very underprivileged place.

They continued walking, unsure exactly where they were going. Amahd asked, “So, has the Lord told you where we are going yet?”

Khalid smiled, “The Lord does not always tell me; He speaks to all of us! So I am not sure my brother; have you heard from Him yet?”

Amahd laughed, “No.”

Khalid shrugged his shoulders, “Me neither; but it is okay with me, I am in no hurry. I have learned to patiently wait upon the Lord. This is one of the simplest to understand, yet the most complicated truths within His holy scriptures to learn and to practice.”

Khalid gazed up into the sky before looking back over at Amahd. “To be honest my brother, it is an art because patience also involves trust.”

Attempting to be humerous, Chad added, “Dude! The simplest verse to understand in all of the scriptures is John 11:35, ‘Jesus wept!’”

Kevin shook his head in disbelief, “Only you Chad—only you!”

Amahd smiled at Chad and then returned his attention to Khalid. “Speaking of trust, I trust you shall help me sharpen these skills?”

Khalid glanced at everyone. “We shall all help each other sharpen our skills, shall we not?”

Everyone shouted in agreement as Khalid added, “This is a daily thing for even the most advanced, Amahd.”

Chad interjected, “Yeah man, not only have Khalid and Krista taught me about God, but they’ve taught me about the birds and the bees as well!”

Chad spoke in an over-embellished voice, “Oh Krista my love! Oh Krista my sweetheart! Oh Khalid, I love you! Krista, my beautiful lovely woman! Oh Khalid, I have missed you so, so much! Yes, my love? My love! MY LOVE!” He was making exaggerated kissing noises when Khalid gave him a friendly shove as they all laughed.

Khalid blushed as he teased back, “It is okay Chad; men are oftentimes jealous of me because I have such a beautiful woman upon my arm.”

Absalom was laughing uncontrollably, “And I thought Christians were boring! Ha! You guys are killing me!”

Absalom glanced back at Chad as he added, “I do have to agree with the man, his wife sure is beautiful!”

Khalid shook his finger in Absalom’s face in jest, “Watch it now my brother—no looking at my wife this way! She is a married man!”

Everyone lost themselves in laughter upon hearing his comment. Jakim broke in, “She is a married man? Wow, I never would have imagined…”

Khalid interrupted; he’d amused himself greatly when he realized what he’d just said. “I meant woman! Okay, so I had a moment of poor English I suppose!”

Kevin straightened himself and stood stoutly as he said, “She’s all of the woman Khalid baby needs!”

Khalid raised his eyebrows as he suddenly halted in the middle of the road, both embarrassed and shocked, as a look of extreme dread covered his face. He grabbed Kevin’s shoulders, “Khalid baby? How do you know about this?”

Chad and Kevin looked at one another and grinned before they busted up laughing. Kevin replied, “Why? Is this something we’re not supposed to know about—huh, Khalid baby?

Khalid’s face was as red as a beet when Kevin finally offered him some relief while he patted him on his back. “It’s okay; I overheard you talking to Krista once a while back about tomatoes and jogging in place because she had said Khalid baby!”

Khalid swept the back of his hand across his forehead as he resumed walking. “Yes, this is what I had thought all along.”

Of course, judging by his severe reaction, everyone suspected he was covering up a personal secret.

Without warning, three military police trucks pulled up alongside them; nine uniformed men who had the word B.E.A.S.T., (the Babylonian Embassy of Allah’s Sacred Temple), stamped across the back of their shirts came hurriedly stomping out with their guns drawn.

The leader of the group of men was yelling in Lebanese at Khalid as he violently shook his gun back and forth. He was ordering them to drop down so they could handcuff them.

Khalid crossed his arms over his chest and stood erect; he was not afraid because he knew it was not yet his time. “Unless you are Yahweh or His Son, Jesus Christ, we shall not drop down before you.”

The man grew angrier and more violent as he began spitting at Khalid and the others, shooting his gun repetitively near their feet. He warned them that this was their last chance or they would die.

Khalid smiled, “Do as you need to do, but our God will deliver us from you and your superiors. Some of us may die in the physical; however, you cannot take any of our souls!”

Just then, the man shot Amahd, Isaiah, his two sons Jacob and Eli, Malachi, Samuel, and Absalom’s four brothers. They all died instantly as they fell to the ground at once, blood spilling out in streams from their unsuspecting, lifeless bodies saturating their spotlessly white robes.

Khalid’s heart ached inside, but he reminded himself that death was part of the Tribulation. He began to praise God in Lebanese so they would understand, “Praise the Lord! My brother’s have gone home this moment to be with our Savior—Jesus Christ! Praise the Lord! They didn’t have to be tormented; they have been released from this hell!”

The soldiers stared at one another in disbelief as Abe, Jedadiah, Chad, Kevin, Jakim, and Absalom all followed his lead—dancing and singing with smiles upon their faces. Absalom was new to all of this, yet he took great comfort in knowing his brothers had just been saved and were at home with the Lord.

As they were glorifying God and rejoicing, a dense fog suddenly crept up from out of nowhere—a fog that could be felt. The soldiers started panicking; their skin literally crawling as they flailed their arms about madly in confusion and fear. There was loud humming, like millions of hornets fleeing from their nests, followed by violent stomping and thudding similar to a wild stampede of buffalo. The soldiers began screaming sharply in terror as large beasts, which seemed to be a cross a between insect and animal, emerged from the cryptic smoke.

Khalid leaned over and alerted the rest, “The fifth trumpet has just been blown; Abaddon has been unleashed from his prison! This is the first woe upon those who follow the false prophet and the man who shall be the Antichrist!”

Jakim and Absalom were terrified; Khalid was quick to take notice and comfort them. “Do not be afraid; these beasts will not touch us because we have the glory of God about us in the spiritual realms—His brilliant light surrounds us so that these creatures know not to touch us; for they have been commanded by God to not harm those who have the mark of God upon their foreheads.”

The soldiers lost their balance, tumbling to the ground in extreme agony. Khalid instructed the others, “Come, let’s pick them up and put them inside of their trucks. We shall drive their trucks back to the parking lot where our vehicles are, and then take them to our home.”

Kevin, Chad, and Jedadiah automatically agreed without question, they had been around Khalid long enough to know that God spoke to him clearly; but Abe, Jakim, and Absalom thought he had lost his mind. Absalom was sickened at the thought. “But Khalid, I was only recently just like these men! They will trick you, and then kill all of us! Trust me; it was only by miracle that my brothers and I genuinely found Yahweh and did not deceive you.”

Khalid felt compassion for Abe, Jakim, and Absalom, for they had not yet grown in faith as he and the others. “I only do what God tells me to do; and He has told me to do this thing. If I were to allow myself to worry as this, I would find myself falling into the very same trap of doubt and unbelief as you. I know this is most difficult, though you must put your own thinking aside and lean on God.

“As His holy scriptures say in the book of Proverbs, Chapter 3 and verse 5, ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.’ This is what we must continuously strive to do.”

He paused because he had more to say.

“I know it is hard, for the leader of these men has just murdered our loved ones; but we must love our enemies as Jesus has commanded us to do. They have just slapped us on one cheek with what they have done, and according to Jesus, we must offer them the other. Furthermore, the hatred you have witnessed from them is not really who they are; they are in bondage to Satan, and their hearts are calloused and filled with hurts which may even go all the way back to childhood—they are literally in prison within themselves! We must take care of them, love them, and teach them the ways of the Lord, for it is our divine responsibility. Had they known Him to begin with, they never would have raised a hand against us or any of God’s people.”

He gazed carefully into Jakim and Absalom’s face. “Had Jesus not found you recently, you would have done the same as these men here.”

Immediately overcome with great guilt, Jakim and Absalom looked over at one another ashamedly; for they knew well enough what Khalid had just announced was true.

Absalom admitted without hesitation, “Yes, I would have done exactly the same as what these men have done; possibly even worse.”

With that, they let the physically dead lie because they were more than alive with Christ, and they picked up the physically living who were dead in Christ. The men were far too ill to put up a fight as Khalid and the rest leaned over and took hold of them, laying them in their trucks as they drove back to their vans in the parking lot.

They put four of the men in one van, and five in the other. The entire way home, all nine soldiers heaved and moaned in pain, begging and pleading for someone to put them out of their misery.

Khalid rode along with Jakim and Absalom so that he could minister to the man who had murdered his friends while they drove. He sat down on the floor of the van, cradling the man’s head within his lap as he stared down at him with compassion. “I know you may not receive what I am saying to you because you are dismal and ill; you will not die from this, though you will want to. This is the judgment of Yahweh, the one and only true God! You have seen that I and my people were not affected by the revolting creatures whatsoever; they did not touch any of us.”

He paused to glance over at the other four who were absorbedly listening to what Khalid had to say. “It becomes necessary to be brought low when our hearts are so hard that nothing can penetrate them; today, you and your associates have been brought low for this purpose. In sickness, you shall come to the realization that you need the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Up until today, you have lived your lives following your own lustful desires and selfishness; but now you shall learn through the power of the Holy Spirit, and by the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ to be self-controlled, chaste, and selfless as Jesus would have us to be.”

The man who had shot at them gasped and strained to speak as he seized Khalid’s hand within his, attempting to persuade him to end his life. “I know nothing right now; please, have mercy upon me and put me out of my misery! I have killed your friends and came at you violently with force; do you not want to kill me for what I have done? Have your vengeance upon me now while I am still helpless! If I recover from this illness, I will only try and kill you!” He cringed and then grabbed at his side as he dry heaved; it felt as if fire was rushing throughout every vein in his body.

Khalid placed his hand upon the man’s forehead as he empathetically smiled down. “I have faith in the Father that you shall recover just fine, and you will not attempt to kill me.”

He began to pray over the man, “Heavenly Father, in the name of Your Son Jesus Christ, open this man’s ears. He fulfills your prophecy, Lord, as he cries out for death and does not receive it; but lessen his pain if it will benefit the eternity of his soul; in the name of Your Son Jesus, I pray—Amen.”

God gave ear to Khalid’s prayer and slightly lessened the man’s pain, although He did not take it away completely. His body arched and writhed as He felt the power of the Holy Spirit penetrate his entire being. The man struggled once again for his breath as he labored to speak. “I am greatly perplexed by you and your people; we threaten you and kill your brothers, yet you show love and compassion to us, seeking to provide help during our time of great sickness. I am not sorry for what I have done to you or your people; actually, if I were not weak and helpless, I would kill all of your right now! I am only sorry that I do not understand any of your peculiar ways!”

Khalid beamed down at him in faith. “When you find the real God, and Jesus, His Son, you shall understand without question. Had you known His ways to begin with, none of this would have happened today. Yahweh has sent us, through the power of His Holy Spirit, to rescue as many of Satan’s prisoners as we can before it becomes too late. You cannot see this right now because you and your acquaintances are used to your prison; but when the locks are broken and the door swings open with force, the heavenly light shall penetrate the darkness as a sharp knife. You will not so much as look back as you begin stepping out from behind those bars in faith. Joy shall be poured into you like water from a pitcher, endlessly overflowing until your happiness is more than full; when God gives, He gives abundantly.”

The man put his hands on his forehead as he shook his head back and forth. “I just don’t understand. Here you sit allowing me to use your lap as a pillow for my head while speaking love and strength to me; yet, I would have killed you—all of you—and walked away without a single conviction. In another hour, I would not have remembered the incident unless I was reminded.”

Khalid blotted the sweat from the man’s head with the sleeve of his robe. “It is because Jesus loves you, and He lives inside of my heart, and so I love you my brother. I know what your bondage is like because I was in just as much bondage, if not more than what you are, not so long ago. Several years ago, I would have killed you violently without putting my hands upon you—I was filled with the powers of hell, locked far away deep inside the crevices of my own tormented soul. God did not give up on me; on the contrary, He forgave me when I asked, and He rescued me from eternal death.”

Khalid nodded his head back and forth, as he smiled in elation. “I was so blessed because even though I was a Catholic Priest, I had never asked Jesus into my heart to be my Lord and Savior. I knew all about Him, and believed in Him, though I had never once called upon Him for anything; well, except out of anger when members of the Jihad brutally murdered my father—at that point, I blamed God and renounced my belief in the Christian faith altogether. When my father was murdered, I was so spineless that I hid within the crowds of people who were cheering at his death, pretending to be one of them so they would not apprehend me and kill me also.”

He hesitated to wipe at his eyes with his sleeve. “My dad was a Catholic Missionary, and I traveled with him everywhere. As I stood by like a coward at his execution, he stood tall before the hundreds of people who were cursing and throwing trash at him giving praises to Yahweh with a smile upon his face; and it happened right here in Lebanon. This is where I grew up.”

The man was amazed and speechless, “That’s an incredible story! We have all been told that you are an imposter, and the Nabi Isa tells us this same exact story about himself. So who, may I ask, is the real Khalid al-Kabul?”

Khalid remembered what Jesus had said to His disciples; and he was out to prove only the truths of Jesus Christ during these perilous times. As far as he was concerned, it did not matter who Khalid al-Kabul was; it only mattered who Jesus Christ was. Khalid asked, “Who do you believe I am?”

The man shrugged his shoulders. “Some say you are a crazy man filled with Satan, some say you are an imposter, while others say you are a true prophet from heaven sent by Allah to redeem the world!”

Khalid shook his head in disbelief. “Ironically, this sounds very similar to a conversation in the Bible between Jesus and His disciples. It is true I am crazy—crazy in love with Yahweh, and crazy by the world’s standards because the world does not understand the ways of Christ, as you said yourself just a few moments ago.

“I am not an imposter; the false prophet is the imposter. Sometime when he has his back to you, call out his real name—Haman—and see if he quickly turns to look at you; if you called out Khalid to me, I would immediately respond—if you said Haman to me, I would look to the side believing he was approaching.

“Finally, God has sent me to evangelize the truth of His Son, Jesus Christ, to the world; but He took me out of the world of evil and blasphemy and set me apart; I did not miraculously fly down from heaven and transform into the man you see.”

As Khalid spoke to the man, all five of them witnessed his face become as radiant as the sun, and for the first time took notice of what a truly beautiful man he was—inside and out. Although he and Haman looked identical, something about Khalid was stunningly handsome and breathtaking.