EPISODE 8
The worst of all disasters had been unleashed upon the earth. The teacher’s beloved disciple had warned against these days. He had written about the locusts and the days when they would conquer the earth. In his writing, he stated that in the days when the locusts will possess the earth, mankind will seek death but won’t find it, for the locusts would be under strict instruction to only torture the remainders who refused to receive the teacher’s teachings for a period of five months without killing them. The pain caused by the torture would be like the pain caused by a scorpion's sting. During those five months, the unfortunate remainders will want to die, but death will flee from them. Woe to the remainders!!!
As commanded by the voice from the clouds, Apollyon and his army marched forth into the earth to devastate it for the next five months. Having heard and known that his presence in the earth was no longer a secret, the spy became more careful. It also dawned on him that the mission was not as easy as he thought it would be. But then, he was in it already. He had to guard the mystical instrument with his life if he ever wanted to join the fortunate ones in the third heaven again. But Apollyon and his army were determined to never let that happen. The squad was divided into groups and sent out to hunt humans. The various groups went for humans at different parts of the earth, while the last group, led by Apollyon, went in search for the spy.
The spy was horror-struck in his hiding place. He couldn’t imagine being wanted by monstrous devilish locusts. At that point, he regretted having taken on the mission. He would rather have remained with the saints in the third heaven, praising and worshiping the teacher. But his compassion wouldn’t let him. Now, he is in a position where he can’t save the remainders anymore and is likely to meet his own eternal destruction. The mystical instrument was his only hope. And he had to keep it safe until the last day of the seventh year. It was still very early, for it had only been three months since he returned to earth. He still had six years and nine months to go. More so, the next five months could just see his mission coming to an ultimate end, and his soul becoming subject to eternal destruction.
Meanwhile, the fame of the spy had filled the earth. The remainders became aware that there’s a man on the earth who has the power to change their fate and help them escape the woes that were devastating the earth. So, it turned out that the locusts were not the only ones in search of the spy; the remainders had now joined in the search. Soon enough, the locusts found their way to human territory and continued from where they stopped. From the spy’s hiding place, he could hear their wails and screams, and his soul was troubled. Each time he tried to step out of his hiding, he saw a group of locusts surveying the area. It seemed like those sets of locusts had been told to remain at that point and prey on any remainder that crossed that path. So the spy was stuck in his hiding place. There was no way he could leave that environment without being spotted by the locusts. So he kept his calm but always checked to see if there would be an opportunity for him to leave that place.
Over at the third heaven, serious preparations for the sixth woe was in progress. Over two hundred million war horses were being prepared to invade the earth in five months’ time and kill a third of the remainders. Their riders were clothed in fiery-red and dark-blue, and had yellow armor on their chests. The heads of the horses looked like lions, with FIRE, SMOKE, and SULPHUR coming out of their mouths. They were to be led by four of the teacher’s messengers who had been tied up beside the great Euphrates River for millenniums, waiting for a particular hour, day, month, and year to unleash themselves on the remainders and destroy a third of them. Their mission was to commence in five months’ time, and they couldn’t wait for the sixth messenger to blow his trumpet and unleash them upon the remainders.
Unlike the fifth woe, the sixth woe was allowed to claim human life. A third of the remainders will be wiped off the face of the earth when the four messengers tied beside the great Euphrates River and their battalion is released upon them. The remainders will be destroyed by the FIRE, SMOKE, and SULPHUR which proceeds from the mouths of the battalion. And once a third of the remainders have been killed, the sixth woe will be over, giving way to the seventh and deadliest woe.
The fifth woe was still plaguing mankind, and they thought they had seen the worst. They never know what awaits them upon the blowing of the last two trumpets. Sadly, three months passed without the spy succeeding in taking any remainders back in time. Even he, the spy, had not as much as stepped out of his hiding for those three months. There was never a chance for him to do so, as the territory was never void of locusts. He was starved. He hadn’t eaten anything those three months. Ulcer and other hunger-provoking ailments struck his health as a result. Yet, death wouldn’t come to him, for it had been withdrawn from the earth. The only thing left was sufferings, and torture, and all sorts of affliction; one of which had now caught up with the spy. I wish it would end there. But there is more to come.
It got to the end of five months and the spy still remained hidden in his hideout. During the course of the five months, the locusts had done their worst to the remainders they laid hands on. Now, it was about to come to the end of five months in two hours’ time, and the locust woe would be all over. Just then, the locusts who had scattered in groups and circulated all over the earth came together and assembled themselves at the same place they took off from. But they didn’t return alone. They various groups came back with large numbers of remainders who they had taken captive, hoping that the spy was one of the captured remainders. So they brought those remainders to Apollyon so that he would examine them and spot which of them was the spy, and then take the mystical instrument from him before the two hours they had left was over. Over ten thousand remainders were gathered to that place, and the spy saw them all from his hideout. Then Apollyon began his interrogation.
“Which of you is the intruder from the third heaven?” Apollyon asked. His question remained unanswered, for no one really knew who the spy was. They only heard that there’s someone like that on earth. Apollyon became outraged and screamed in much anger again saying; “which of your damned souls is the intruder from the third heaven? Deliver him to me or be damned forever!” Then a very embittered man, who had been overly tortured by the locusts for the past five months, rose in anger and replied Apollyon with the following words;
“Even if the man you seek was here with us, we wouldn’t deliver him to an ugly monstrous sick creature like you. We would rather have him change our destinies and release us from your devilish hands. And talking about damning us forever, I tell you that you do not have the power to do that. Even as you speak now, you are a damned creature. I read about you in the beloved disciple’s letter to the teacher’s followers. You can neither damn us nor even touch our lives. All you can do is torture us for five months. And your time is over. You will be gone soon.”
In anger, Apollyon reached out for the man and stung him with his poisonous tail. The other locusts joined him in afflicting much pain on the man. They stung his eyes, his nose, his ears, his naval, and every sensitive part of his body. He screamed in pain, and the rest of the remainders broke out in tears, struck by much horror. When Apollyon was through dealing with the man, he threw him on the ground and left him to suffer pain, since he couldn’t die from the affliction. Then Apollyon raised his voice and asked once more; “who is the intruder from the third heaven? Release him to me now or suffer like this man just did.” The shivering crowd began uttering randomly; “we do not know him. He is not here with us.” And again, the man who Apollyon had just harshly tormented raised his weak voice and said again;
“Even if he was here, we wouldn’t deliver him to you. We would rather have him change our destinies and free us from your torment.”
From his hideout, the spy heard the man’s words and thought to himself; “If I come out of this hiding place and declare my identity to the people, they would believe, and I would utter the magical word. Then we would all be gone back in time.” While he was contemplating on whether or not to act on the thought that had crossed his mind, Apollyon was cruelly tormenting the remainders who were there. Their cries and wails from the torment got to the spy, and he couldn’t take it anymore. So he at once stepped out of hiding and loudly declared;
“People of the world, I am the one from the third heaven. I CAN SAVE YOU AND DELIVER YOU FROM THESE LOCUSTS IF YOU BELIEVE I CAN.” Then he raised up the mystical instrument and said; “if you believe, just say I BELIEVE, and I will utter a word that will take us away from here to a place where you will have the chance to rewrite your destiny.”
Immediately he raised the mystical instrument in the air, Apollyon saw it and confirmed that he was the said man from the third heaven. But instead of the remainders to simply say I BELIEVE, they turned to Apollyon and said; “that’s the man you are looking for. Take him and leave us, we beg you.” The spy was shocked by their words. He couldn’t believe the very people he risked his soul to save were handing him over to the beasts he had come to save them from. Tears rolled down his eyes. He became downhearted. His emotions made him lose guard. Then from nowhere, a locust’s tail suddenly stung him from behind, and he fell to the ground, letting go off the mystical instrument from his hands due to the impact of the sting. And then, slowly and gently, with a feeling of conquest, Apollyon began walking towards the spy to get the mystical instrument. Having gotten pretty close to the fallen spy, Apollyon let out a devilish laugh and declared to the spy saying; “IT IS OVER.”
To be continued…