Mark of Evil (50 page)

After the ceremony there was a modest supper in the basement of the church and lots of laughter and a few tears—and many stories. Jimmy Louder went on and on about Ethan’s courageous leadership while Ethan’s face blushed and he tried in vain to get his friend to stop. Victoria McHenry had everyone laughing when she poked fun at Ethan about his being married to a woman like Rivka, as she wondered out loud what would happen the first time Ethan refused to take out the garbage or forgot to bring home milk from the office. “Rivka is a martial arts expert, after all,” she cracked.

John Galligher talked about some of the crazy, laughable experiences he’d had with Chiro in the Yukon Territory. Halfway through he had to stop and turn away in order to compose himself so he could continue. He told the group that he couldn’t help thinking about Chiro when he finally made good on his promise to reconnect with his ex-wife, Helen. They were on talking terms now, he said, and the whole thing was a miracle.

Later that night Ethan and Rivka slipped outside together, hand in hand, into the moonlight. They looked at the little harbor filled with fishing boats that rolled and bobbed gently in the water. Standing there under a sky studded with stars, Ethan knew he couldn’t keep the world or the devil at bay indefinitely. But he could today, and perhaps for a little while, at least.

Rivka broke the silence, and when she did, standing there in her wedding dress, she surprised Ethan with her comment. But then, she always had been an interesting combination of true romantic and stone-cold realist.

“By my count,” Rivka announced, “we are still somewhere within the first half of the Tribulation, not even at the midpoint yet. Colliquin will only grow stronger, and his atrocities will increase.” Then she turned to Ethan and kissed him hard. “Which is why I’m glad we will go through this together, my darling.”

Ethan held her face in his big hands. “I thank God for you, Rivka, more than you will ever know.” Yet as he said that, Ethan knew they would soon be plunged into a life-and-death struggle with demonic forces—waging a spiritual battle against a cruel and soulless enemy. He wanted to protect Rivka, keep her safe, and he knew that he would lay down his life if necessary to do that. But he also knew that ultimately he would have to entrust her to the safekeeping of God. After all, she had belonged to God long before she had ever belonged to him.

Rivka shivered a little in the evening air, and Ethan covered her shoulders with his jacket and pulled her close. He felt the weight of the
future bearing down on him.
How long, O Lord?
Ethan wondered to himself silently. But before he could take his next breath, the answer to his question seemed to envelop him from some unseen place; the message was as real and as certain as the breeze that now swept to shore from across the moonlit bay, brushing over Ethan’s face and rustling Rivka’s wedding dress.

Yes, I am coming quickly.

EPILOGUE

The apostle John, known as “the disciple who Jesus loved,” served as bishop of Ephesus for over twenty-five years. He was the last living eyewitness to Jesus’ life, miracles, death, and resurrection. John wrote in AD 90 this challenge to all Christians everywhere:

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near. (Revelation 1:1–3)