Wednesday 5 June 2019

How Soon Is Now? A new novel by Gary Walton: Chapter 4: The Four Horses Of The Apocalypse


Photo NOAA 
The book is a rough draft at the moment, I don't have a publisher, I am serialising the novel on The Big Wobble, looking for constructive criticism, maybe if the book is good enough it will land on a publishers desk!



Chapter 4: The Four Horses Of The Apocalypse 

Johnny Cash

"The Man Comes Around"

And I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder: one of the four beasts saying: "Come and see." And I saw. And behold a white horse.

There's a man goin' 'round takin' names.
And he decides who to free and who to blame.
Everybody won't be treated all the same.
There'll be a golden ladder reaching down.
When the man comes around.

The hairs on your arm will stand up
At the terror in each sip and in each sup.
Will you partake of that last offered cup
Or disappear into the potter's ground
When the man comes around?

Hear the trumpets, hear the pipers.
One hundred million angels singin'.
Multitudes are marching to the big kettle drum.
Voices callin', voices cryin'.
Some are born and some are dyin'.
It's Alpha and Omega's Kingdom come.

We arrived back at my apartment in Holland around 1: am that night, very tired and stiff but now in high spirits, I asked Maggie to stay at my place, she looked at me suspiciously.
"Relax, I mean, I'll sleep on the couch," I said.
She smiled and said, " in that case, it's a deal, I don't want to be alone tonight."
I sat Maggie outside on the balcony while I opened a bottle of red wine.
It was warm and still, apart from a few late drinkers on the terrace the boulevard was quiet, we could hear the waves lapping onto the beach, above a cloudless sky revealed millions of twinkling stars.
"This is so beautiful out here, you are a lucky man, Cooper," she said.
"I know, I am very happy here Maggie."
"It's a paradox, all this crazy stuff going on, terrorist attacks, all the madness happening and I found you," she said, kissing me tenderly on the cheek.
I poured us another glass of red wine and said, "bottoms up."
She giggled.
I asked Maggie if she wanted to drive up the coast tomorrow but she shook her head and said, "no, I just want to stay here with you."
We sat there talking, listening to the sea and watching the stars for what seemed like hours.

I woke at 9: am the next morning, still hurting and very stiff, not helped by sleeping on the couch, I decided to let Maggie sleep, I made some coffee and took it out to the balcony with my laptop, I wanted to do some work and update my website, I had managed to take a few pictures of the aftermath of the terrorist attack and I wanted to upload them onto the blog, the ones I didn't use for my blog I could sell on to news agency's, over the years I had acquired numerous contacts.
I told the house-port to turn on the news and read out my emails, the terrorist attacks were still the front page story on all the Western news sites. The house-port told me an e-ticket for a flight to London on KLM airlines from Schiphol Amsterdam Airport to London Heathrow had arrived from the BBC, my interview was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon at Broadcasting house in London. The interview covering climate change was for "The Today Programme," which is BBC Radio 4's long-running early morning news and current affairs programme, It is the most popular programme on Radio 4 and one of the BBC's most popular programmes across its radio networks my email claimed.
I listened to my other emails, according to Reuters, It was now thought around 12,000 had died with another 5,000 still missing in Bali after the massive quake and tsunami. Cases of diarrhoea and respiratory infection, and suspected cases of mosquito-borne illnesses, including malaria and dengue fever had increased drastically and people were now in danger of dying from a disease.

Elsewhere, tens of thousands of people had to flee a fast-moving wildfire in Northern California, some clutching babies and pets as they abandoned vehicles and struck out on foot ahead of the flames that forced the evacuation of an entire town and destroyed hundreds of structures.
"Pretty much the community of North East Santa Rosa is destroyed, it's that kind of devastation," said Cal Fire Capt. Scott Brady.
"The wind that was predicted had come and just wiped everything out."
Brady estimated that a couple of thousand structures had been destroyed in the area of 27,000 residents, 50 miles north of San Francisco. Around 250,000 people had now been evacuated. With millions of dead trees and a record drought over the last 4 years, these massive fires were becoming a permanent fixture of California, starting earlier in the year and ending later in the year.


In Alaska, scientists were claiming thousands of dead seabirds were washing up along the coasts of western Alaska.
Common murres, an abundant North Pacific seabird, have been found dead on shores from Shishmaref to St. Lawrence Island since last month, AND-TV reported Wednesday.
A dead bird has been examined at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's migratory bird office in Anchorage and more was being sent in to be tested. It is thought millions of the little birds had died in the last ten years but the true number will never be known because the majority of birds are thought to have died out at sea. The new die-off follows a massive loss of common murres in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2022 and 2024., the biggest murre die-off on record in Alaska, and a precursor to near-total reproductive failures for murres in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering. It also follows the deaths of thousands of puffins found last fall on St. Paul Island in the Pribilofs and, prior to that, mass deaths of murres and auklets along the U.S. West Coast. In each death wave, starving birds had been left emaciated and each wave had been associated with unusually warm marine waters. Alaskan and West coast fishermen have been complaining of the demise of fish along the West coast of the U.S. Canada and Mexico since 2012.

Warm slender arms wrapped around my shoulders and I felt a tender kiss on my cheek," good morning my darling how did you sleep?"
"Hey, Maggie, I slept like a plank and you?"
"Wonderful but I'm sooo stiff too," I looked at her face, she still had many little cuts on her face from the blast but they were starting to heal and she was laughing.
I poured Maggie a coffee out of the flask.
She cuddled up to me on the bench.
I put my arm around her," honey, it might be a good idea to see a doctor this week, we have both just been through a terrible ordeal, we may well be sleeping soundly now but that might not be the case in a week or two, I'm thinking Post-traumatic stress disorder, (PTSD)."
"Yes, I know, I was thinking along the same lines," she said.
"Oh, by the way, Maggie, I have to fly to London on Wednesday for an interview with the BBC."
She looked at me with concern.
"I'll be fine Maggie, I will be back here on Wednesday evening."
"Well, if you must," she said.

I cooked a full English breakfast for us both which we devoured on the balcony while watching the boulevard fill up with another hoard of people. It was another hot one and the heatwave showed no sign of diminishing.

After breakfast, we both sat on the bench on the balcony watching the day unfold below.
I glanced at her and asked, "Maggie, can you remember the evening when we went for a meal in Amsterdam, you explained to me parts of your new book, describing how many Bible prophecies point to 1914 as being the beginning of the end times."
"Of course I remember," she said.
"Well you told me there was much more to tell but you thought I had heard enough for one night."
"Yes I did, it's quite a deep topic really."
"Would you like to go further?" I asked.
"Sure."
"Are you up to it after what happened yesterday?" She asked.
"I think I could manage, "I replied.
"In the restaurant, we discussed, The Tunguska event, The Four Horses Of The Apocalypse and Daniel's prophecy all link to 1914." 
"If you remember I pointed out how the Tunguska event in 1908 (a theory of mine) was a precursor to the release of the four horses of the apocalypse resulting in, the beginning of what Jesus claimed in Matthew 24, and Luke 21, as the beginning of pangs of distress for our planet, the last days." 
I try to point out how the very thing Jesus warned us to look out for in Matthew 24, actually began in 1914." 
"Wars and rumours of wars, Nation rising against nation, food shortages, earthquakes in diverse places and pestilence."
"Also how the beginning of God's heavenly government which He took back in 1914, after more than 2,500 years since he released His throne to the Gentiles and allowed the Babylonians to conquer Jerusalem in 607 BC."
"Ok, we left off at the “seven times, mentioned in Daniel 4” which would take us back, 2,520 years, from October 607 B.C.E. when Jehovah allowed Jerusalem to be conquered by Babylon's King, Nebuchadnezzar, to October 1914 when Jesus began ruling Jehovah's new kingdom in heaven after, having thrown Satan and his rebel angels down to Earth ending 2,520 years of God's, none intervention here on Earth "she said.
"Are you following me, Cooper?"
"Yes."
She went on, "there are many more references in the Bible which suggest we are living in the end-times, that we, as a race are the last generation often mentioned in the Bible," "Jesus himself said in Matthew 24: 6-8, quote, you are going to hear of wars and reports of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for these things must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be food shortages and earthquakes in one place after another. All these things are a beginning of pangs of distress."
Maggie went on, "you see darling, many sceptics will say but," wasn't it always like that? Didn't we always have wars, food shortage sickness and earthquakes."
"Well, yes Cooper it was always like that but never on a global scale which happened after 1914," I added.
"But if you read further in Matthew 24: 14, Jesus says, this good news of the Kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."
Maggie went on, a look of excitement in her eyes, "for thousands of years that sentence will have  meant nothing to people because it would have been impossible to preach to all the inhabited earth, Cooper."
 "Not now," "for instance what happened to us in Paris was broadcast to almost everyone in the world as it happened and if anyone missed it they will have seen the video's and pictures and headlines of the terrorist attack on social media, YouTube or the TV."
"Cooper, even the poorest people in the world have a TV or a cell phone, tablet, or laptop, everyone has access to everything ever written throughout the entire history of the human race these days at the click of a keyboard, everything you need to find is on the world-wide-web, and with the new 5G satellites in space, it's cheaper and faster than ever."
She went on, "the Jehovah's Witness organisation has more than 900 Bible translations on its website, think about it, 900 different languages just a click away and that's just the Jehovah's witnesses."
I poured us both a glass of red wine.
"Carry on, "I said.
We both took a sip of wine.
"In Matthew 24: 21 and 22 Jesus tells us; For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened."
Maggie looked at me and said, "what do you think that could that possibly mean?"
I looked at Maggie smiling and said," I think I can explain, the great tribulation is possibly a reference to the 40,000 nuclear weapons still available to the five major nuclear powers: the U.S., Russia, Britain, France and China."
I carried on, "several other nations are known or thought to have nuclear capabilities: Israel, India, Pakistan, North Korea, South Africa, Iran, Ukraine, and others, so I think, those days will have to be shortened, God is saying he will have to bring a stop to those days before we annihilate the human race and the planet, for the first time ever, mankind is capable of destroying the whole planet, His world which would mean we HAVE TO BE the last generation and God will have to shorten our days."
"Absolutely," said Maggie.
She smiled at me and said, "Are we living in the last days?"
"Yes, indeed!"
"This one sign proves it conclusively, for at no other time in history has it been possible for mankind to annihilate the human race!"
I poured another wine.
She continued, "In Matthew 24: 7, Jesus tells his disciples in the last days' earthquakes will happen in one place after another but, 2,000 years ago only about 300 million people inhabited the earth, mainly living around the Mediterranean Sea, Arabia and Northern India, Italy, which was then Rome, Greece and Persia, which is now Iran, the Pacific Ring of Fire would have been unheard of but, Jesus knew and warned us."
I looked at my watch it was almost 3: pm, "wow, look at the time, "I said to Maggie.
She said, "do you mind if I take a map, I'm so sleepy."
"No of course not, go ahead, I'll wake you in a couple of hours."

I thought of the last couple of days and how lucky we were to have escaped with our lives, I looked out across the boulevard and further onto the beach, people enjoying themselves having fun unaware, at least this afternoon anyway of the chaos happening daily to our wonderful planet and why shouldn't they be?

I looked in on Maggie a couple of hours later, she was sleeping peacefully, I decided to let her sleep on, she had received a huge shock during the last 36 hours, she could use the rest, I thought.
I decided to grab my laptop and do some more work on my website on the balcony table, it was another scorcher but the massive sunscreen above my balcony kept the sun away while allowing the cool sea breeze to freshen up. I opened my laptop, an email from the National Science Foundation caught my attention, I opened it, the headline read: Another clue to the decline of The Pacific Ocean was the massive increase in jellyfish due to the lack of fish who feed on them. I thought of the stroll along my area of the beach a few days ago when tens of thousands of jellyfish had washed up causing chaos for the bathers and how the locals complained about how the problem was increasing recently.
The email from the National Science Foundation went on: Jellyfish have been a natural part of the Bering Sea ecosystem for decades. In recent years, their population numbers in the region have exploded. A research team funded by the National Science Foundation had decided to find out what the cause and implications might be.
There found certain fish that do feed on jellyfish, some of the salmon do, but salmon was on the brink of extinction, allowing the jellyfish population to thrive.
But in reality, few types of fish eat them and with the severe decline in the number of fish now in the Bering Sea the jellyfish numbers have exploded and these species aren't exactly edible for humans, either.
They do, however, have impacts on the ecosystem because they feed on things that fish eat.
They'll eat small crustaceans, zooplankton, which are prey for other seabirds and marine mammals.

Another email caught my attention, as we entered July, heatwaves were being recorded from Canada, the U.S., the UK, Europe and Russia as the Northern Hemisphere enjoyed high summer. As summer hit the Northern Hemisphere, the heatwaves in Canada, U.S., the UK, Europe and Asia were for the most unprecedented as the northern half of the planet baked. Of course, it was summer but, for the whole of the Northern Hemisphere to be witnessing a heat-wave all at the same time, was very unusual. In parts of south-west France, temperatures were hitting 45 deg C (113 deg F). In Canada residents in the Toronto area had to endure a humidex temp which pushed the mercury into the mid-40s deg C, (113 deg F) and the heat was expected to last into next week. Meanwhile, a dangerous, oppressive heat wave had scorched central, and the eastern part of the US this weekend. Temperatures had reached at least 35 C (95deg F) in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland during this week with the hot weather expected to hold well into next week. It was no different here in Holland, Scandinavia and parts of Russia, Japan and the Koreas.

Meanwhile, the number of dead had accelerated to 81 from the latest California wildfire, according to the agency's morning incident report.
The number of missing people in the area stood at 870, with 1,864 people accounted for, according to the East Santa Rosa's Sheriff's Office.
Of the 81 fatalities, 56 have been tentatively identified, according to the Sheriff's Office.
The wildfire had grown insignificantly over the past day, reaching 153,336 acres, which fire officers estimate complete containment will only be reached by the end of the month.
One of the deadliest and most destructive wildfires in state history had destroyed over 12,600 homes and more than 4,000 other structures, in just a matter of days.
Many evacuation orders remain in place.

More misery for Bali, the official death toll had risen to 15,000 with another 5,000 still missing after the massive quake and tsunami, Bali's volatile Mount Agung volcano was now erupting ash and lava kilometres into the air prompting panicking residents to flee their homes. Mount Agung in northeast Bali had been rumbling since late last year, there was a temporary closure of the island’s international airport, once again, disrupting flights and stranding thousands of travellers.
According to Reuters, Indonesia’s national disaster mitigation agency said residents had heard a loud explosion and saw flaming volcanic rocks thrown at least 2 km (1.2 miles) out of the crater.

It was now 7: pm, I decided to wake up Maggie, I walked quietly into the bedroom, she was still sleeping peacefully, I laid next to her and stroked her shoulder gently, her eyes slowly opened.
"Hi," I said.
"Hmmm, that is so nice," she replied.
I snuggled up closer and she kissed me tenderly on my cheek.
"Do you want me to cook dinner or do you want to go downstairs to the restaurant," I asked.
"I want to stay here, just you and me."
"OK, that's fine by me," I said.
I pulled her up from the bed and held her in my arms and looked into her beautiful green eyes but I now saw a sadness.
"Are you ok Maggie," I asked.
"I was just thinking about the poor people who died this weekend, I think the realisation of what just happened is hitting home."
"I know," I said concerned.
"C'mon, lets cook, what do you want to eat," I said.
"Why don't we order a pizza?" she asked.
I grabbed another bottle of wine and sat on the balcony with Maggie, I poured another couple of glasses of wine and after checking the pizza app, I told the house-port to order two Margherita pizzas.
The beach was beginning to empty of people but the boulevard restaurants and bars were filling up to Sunday night capacity as people ordered one last meal or drink for the weekend as another working week approached.
We sat sipping wine, listening to the laughter and music from the terraces below us, the atmosphere was infectious.
"Are you going to work tomorrow?" I asked her.
"I think so, maybe in the afternoon for a couple of hours."
"Do you want to stay here another night?" I asked.
"I don't want to be on my own if you don't mind," she asked sadly.
"Maggie, of course, I don't mind, I love you," I said.
She sat bolt upright and looked into my eyes, "you mean it!" She asked with astonishment in her face?
"Of course I mean it silly, couldn't you tell!"
"No, I mean yes, I love you too, I can't believe it, it's all happened so quickly."
We hugged and kissed each other, the moment felt wonderful.

We sat together holding hands on the balcony after the pizzas had been eaten and enjoyed, two wonderfully happy people who loved each other, content staring out to sea.
The Dutch coast faces West, we both sat still watching the sun go down under the water horizon, it was a perfect end to a terrible weekend. We sat there talking until the early hours, swapping ideas and thoughts and hugging and kissing each other, like two teenagers.

I was up and about early Monday, I made breakfast and coffee and woke up Maggie, we took the coffee and the bacon sandwiches onto the balcony and wolfed down the food, the sea air gave a person a wonderful appetite. For once the day was overcast, no threat of rain but it was much cooler than it had been of late. Maggie phoned in work and explained what had happened over the weekend, they were very understanding and told her to take off as much time as she wanted to fully recover.
RTL News rang me and asked if Maggie and I would like to give our version of events in a live interview of what had happened in the Paris attack, Maggie looked at me and shook her head, I said no we were not interested and I asked them how the came by my number, no reply and a click, they had hung up.
I asked Maggie if she wanted to stay here longer and to my delight, she said yes but she would have to go home and collect more clothes. I told her I would work on my website while she was gone. We kissed, as she left, I watched her walk to her car from the balcony, I gave her a wave and she was gone.

I opened my laptop, an email from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) caught my eye, it read: May 2025 was the 486th consecutive month with an above-average temperature as the globe had its 4th warmest May on record.
The average global temperature in May 2018 was 1.95 degrees above the 20th-century average of 58.6 degrees F. This was the fourth highest for May in the 146-year record (1880–2025).
Last month, May, was also the 49th consecutive May and the 486th consecutive month with above-average temperatures. Europe had its warmest May on record; North America, it's second; South America, its sixth; Africa, it's ninth; Asia, its 5th; and Oceania had its 5th warmest.


Since World War I, scientists have been recording ocean temperatures at the iconic Scripps Pier in La Jolla, California. Every single day, someone walks to the end of the pier and takes a seawater sample at the surface and bottom of the ocean and measures its temperature and salt concentration ("salinity"). Earlier this week, the surface sample was the warmest it has been since the record began in 1916. Researchers measured a sea surface temperature of 79 °F, which was 0.2 °F greater than the previous record from an unusual warming event in July 2019. These temperatures are on par with what is observed off the coast of Miami, Florida during winter months, which are known to be the warmest waters around the continental United States. Given that ocean waters in San Diego are often warmest in August, this record could again be broken later this summer.
The Pacific Ocean temperatures have recently increased during a marine heatwave in 2014- known as the "blob" - and then an El Nino event in 2019. Together, the warm waters brought by the blob and El Nino not only reduced the number of available nutrients in seawater, but they also facilitated the proliferation of toxic algae that led to the closure of the Dungeness crab fishery in California. Even after these conditions subsided, fisheries, such as salmon, are slow to recover.
And, this recent bout of warming is already affecting the bottom of the food web, with scientists observing decreases in microscopic algae ("phytoplankton"). Human-driven climate change has already raised global sea temperatures by nearly 2 °F so we can expect the frequency of record-breaking incidents to increase.

I heard a car horn, I looked downstairs and saw Maggies smiling face pulling into the parking lot.
She stepped out of the car and waved, I waved back, my mood immediately lifted.
I left the front door open for Maggie and jumped in the shower.

Maggie was on the balcony working when I finished freshening up, she was talking to her boss on the phone with her laptop open, I kissed her on her head and smiled.
"I will be in this afternoon for three or four hours," I heard her saying, small blast wounds could still be seen on her right-hand shoulder, arm and face.
"Yes, I will, I will see you then, goodbye."
She put the phone down, laughing, and pulled me down onto the bench almost breaking my arm and started kissing my face jokingly, we both rolled onto the floor giggling.
"I'm going into work this afternoon," she said.
"Are you strong enough, you have just been blown up," I asked?
"Are you kidding me, look at me, I have never been better in my whole life!"
I smiled, "we are like two young kids," and we both started giggling again.

In the afternoon I took some time to clean up the apartment and grab some groceries, I was now feeding two. The overcast conditions had cleared and the day had once again turned hot and sultry, the main shopping street was almost deserted, there was no hiding from the burning sun, shop owners sat under sun awnings along the street, desperate to stay in the shade and stay cool, pet dogs lay panting in what little shade they could find, the scene resembled a clip from a spaghetti western.
The supermarket, however, was the place to be, air conditioning blasted a cold curtain of joy, dropping the shop temperature to something resembling mid-winter, the feeling was delicious, I strolled down the supermarket aisles taking my time enjoying the coolness of the AC. I grabbed a case of beer, more red wine and lots of water, I ordered Dutch cheese, bread and milk and cereals along with some steak, bacon and sausage, I paid at the counter and asked them to deliver, I didn't have transport and I wasn't going to carry all the stuff in this heat.

Maggie arrived back at the apartment at around 6: pm, she had two bags of groceries too.
"Hi, I brought some stuff for us,"
Maggie's shopping, however, looked a little different than mine, fresh vegetables, cauliflower, cabbage, fresh tomatoes, mushrooms and paprika's filled one bag, while toilet rolls, kitchen rolls, toothpaste and various shampoo and shower gels filled the other.
"Haha, great minds think alike, I stocked up too, how did it go this afternoon Maggie," I asked.
"Fine, they told me to take it easy for the rest of the week, so it just might be a good time to work on my book and try and finish it," she said.
"Good idea," "hey honey, go freshen up and we can go for a long walk along the water's edge tonight, wear something cool, it's still hot out there."
"Ok give me half an hour."
She kissed me and walked off into the shower.

The sun was still hot but a breeze was blowing off the cool sea which had had a soothing effect, we walked toward the south with our feet in the cold water, holding hands, our shadows beginning to lengthen behind us and our hair blowing in our faces, it was so refreshing.
I asked Maggie if she wanted to continue describing her book to me.
"I would love too," she said.
"I wanted to explain to you what I believe is the most important message of my book, which is, just how long have we all got left on this decaying world before God says enough is enough!"
"And you know when that will be Maggie," I asked?
"Well no, not exactly, no one does, Jesus Himself said he didn't know, only God himself know's but maybe, through inspired and trusted works we can arrive at an approximate time."
"How so," I asked.
She looked into my eyes and smiled patiently.
"The Ancient Book of Enoch," she said, excitedly.
"A book which may pre-date the Old Testament by a 1,000 years!"
"Wow, that is ancient," I said smiling.
She went on, "the book is an ancient Jewish religious work, ascribed by tradition to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah, copies of his book were found in the dead sea scrolls."
She looked into my eyes passionately.
"Most Christian denominations and traditions may accept the Books of Enoch as having some historical or theological interest, but they generally regard the Books of Enoch as noncanonical or a noninspired religious work, however, part of Enoch's book is mentioned in detail in the penultimate book of the Bible, The Epistle Of Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, which would, therefore, give rise to the authenticity of Enoch's book" she said.
"Enoch was also so mentioned in the first book of the Bible, Genesis and he was loved and taken by God Himself," she went on.
"The Holy Spirit inspired Jude to quote Enoch for a reason."
"The Ancient Book of Enoch opens by addressing those in the Tribulation period, which Bible scholars believe is taking place or is very close to taking place now."
"Are you following me," she smiled?
"Yes, I am," I smiled back.
"The Ancient book of Enoch contains numerous prophecies about the flood which happened in Noah's time and the fire judgment which is coming this time around and, the two comings of the Messiah, the first being 2,000 years ago as we know," said Maggie, excitedly.
"Enoch teaches us that the Messiah is the Son of God and that He will shed His blood to redeem mankind and even predicts the generation that His return would occur and he prophesied these things thousands of years before Jesus came to Earth as the Messiah!"
Maggie went on, "The Ancient book of Enoch prophesies a window in time in which the Second Coming of the Messiah would occur, he prophesies that there will be twenty-three Israeli Prime Ministers ruling in a fifty-eight term period from AD 1948, when Israel became a nation again, to the beginning of the Tribulation period, and much more."
"The Ancient Book of Enoch also recounts the history of the angels that fell to Earth in the days of Jared, Enoch’s father, which proceeded the collapse of all morality on Earth resulting in the flood of Noah," Maggie explained excitedly.
"The book testifies to the fallen angels leaving their true station and marrying human women on Earth and creating the Nephilim, a race of giants which ravaged the Earth."
"I have read about that, it is fascinating," I said.
"The unhuman Nephilim devoured everything they could on Earth including man, it was a time of chaos, the Nephilim eventually destroyed each other or were destroyed by the flood, however, being half angel half human they didn't die, they became the demons who have tormented mankind ever since," said Maggie.
"Ok, when will we hit the Tribulation period?" I asked.
"Two prophecies from Enoch will help me explain," she said, looking hopeful.
"Last week, in the restaurant, I explained my theory regarding the Tunguska Event, The Four Horses Of The Apocalypse and Daniel's prophecy all link to 1914," she said, licking her lips.
Maggie went on, "I pointed out how the Tunguska event in 1908 (a theory of mine as you know) was a precursor to the release of the four horses of the apocalypse resulting in, the beginning of what Jesus claimed in Matthew 24, and Luke 21, as the beginning of pangs of distress for our planet, or the last days."
"In my book, I try to point out how the very thing Jesus foretold, actually began to unfold in 1914, wars, rumours of wars, nation rising against nation, food shortages, earthquakes in diverse places and pestilence," said Maggie.
"Also how the beginning of God's heavenly government which He took back in 1914, after more than 2,500 years after releasing his throne to the Gentiles and allowing the Babylonians to conquer Jerusalem in 607 BC."
She went on, "If, the last days, or "the beginning of pangs of distress," for our planet, prophesied by our Lord Jesus Christ began, in 1914, is there any way, we can find, just when the pangs of distress will end and our Lord Jesus will return?
"And you think The Ancient Book of Enoch can help us," I asked?
"Yes."
"Enoch had a dream or a vision, he dreamt of 70 shepherds," said Maggie.
"Yet another dream," I said.
"Enoch had a vision or a dream, in his dream 70 shepherds, (Jewish rulers) who were divided into three time periods of 35 - 23 - and 12, according to Enoch the last 12 would come during the tribulation period just before Jesus returns so we can forget about them for now," said Maggie.
"Now, the first 20 Jewish shepherds, or rulers of Enoch's dream of 70 shepherds, were the first twenty kings who ruled Israel after David and Solomon, starting with King Rehoboam and all the following Kings down to the 20th, which was King Zedekiah, the last king of Israel and and according to many Bible scholars that year was year 607 BC, which was the year when God decided he had had enough with Jewish Kings representing Him because of their poor immoral behaviour which, if you remember is exactly the same time as Nebucadnezzers dream of seven times which brought us to 1914, in the book of Daniel, which we discussed a couple of weeks ago."
"Wow, incredible," I said.
"So He allowed Jerusalem, God's earthly throne to be conquered by the Babylonians, now, if we add 606 years BC and 1,914 years AD which is the year the pangs of distress began, we get to 2,520 years, if we take 2,520 away from 1914 we arrive at the year 606 B.C.E., remember the Common Era started at year 1, not year zero so the actual year is 607, B.C.E."
"This is astonishing," I said.
"After the first 20 shepherds, or rulers, which were actually Kings, representing God, Enoch dreamed of a gap, of 11, this gap of 11was the Gentile Empires who ruled over the Jews after the last King, Zedekiah, these empires were, Babylon, Persia, and nine Seleucid and Ptolemaic powers," said Maggie.
"After the gap or the 11 Gentile empires came 14 more shepherds, the Maccabees, Jewish shepherds, (rulers), the Maccabees, according to Bible scholar Ken Johnson the Maccabees were a group of Jewish rebel warriors who took control of Judea, which at the time was part of the Seleucid Empire," explained Maggie.
She went on, "after the Maccabees came another gap or Gentile Empire, namely the Romans which according to Ken Johnson, one more Jewish, shepherd (ruler) Bar Kokhba, he was the Jewish leader of what is known as the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Roman Empire in 132 CE, establishing an independent Jewish state which he ruled for three years as Nasi ("Prince")." "His state was conquered by the Romans in 135 following a two and half-year war, which brings us to the first number in Enoch's dream, namely the 35 Jewish shepherds (rulers)."
Maggie continued, "the gap of 11, or foreign Empires is concluded and the first time period of 35 is covered. 20 Jewish Kings, 14 Maccabees and Bar Kokhba completes the first 35 Jewish leaders, Shepherds (rulers) in Enoch's dream."
"Are you following," asked Maggie.
"Yes, I am," I answered.
"Now we shoot forward from around 70 AD to 1948, do you know what happened in 1948, Cooper," asked Maggie?
"Yes I think so, Israel became a nation again."
"Yes, wonderful, which of course Enoch had incredibly prophesied this would happen, thousands of years ago, before the flood!"
She carried on now, very excited, "Enoch dreamed of a further 23 shepherds, rulers, who would " pasture (rule) but, when they completed their periods they would pasture 58 times," what could that mean," asked Maggie?
"What that means is this, 23 shepherds, or rulers, well actually they are prime ministers and some of them will be re-elected, so modern Israel will consist of 23 rulers in 58 governments up to the tribulation period."
"We know we can trust Enoch's prophecies because he prophesied, the flood, The Messiah, The Messiah would come twice, The Messiah would die for mankind's redemption and he prophesied a modern Israel, along with many more prophecies, so we can rely on Enoch's accuracy, now, if we work out how many Israeli Prime Ministers have been elected and how many governments there have been since 1948, we can clearly work out loosely as to when the tribulation period will begin."
"According to Wikipedia, since 1948 - we have had 18 Prime Ministers of modern Israel of the prophesied 23 shepherds or rulers and 34 governments (including coalitions)," explained Maggie
"The halfway point of this prophecy would be roughly around the time of Yitzhak Shamir, he being the 11th Prime Minister of modern Israel in March 2001 and his Likud party became the 29th government of MODERN Israel." She went on, "so if 2001 is "loosely" the half-way-point of Enoch's prophecy, from 1948 to 2001 is 53 years, if we then double that number we arrive at 106, add 53 to 2001 and we arrive at 2054, the tribulation period would begin roughly around 2054, " said Maggie.
She went on, "however, Enoch's prophecy could be broken down another way, 4 of the Prime Ministers have sat double terms, meaning we would find the half-way-point around Ehud Olmert's term, he ended his term of office in 2009, using the same simple sum, 1948 to 2009 = 61 half-way, double the number arrives at 122. 1948 + 122 = the year 2070, 2070 does give us a little more time together," said Maggie.
"A third way would be, as we stand today there have been 34 Israeli governments, including coalitions and 18 Prime Ministers, halfway would have been the 29th government of Ariel Sharon, his last year in office, being in 2006, we do the same simple equation, 1948 to 2006 = 58, double it and we arrive at 116, 1948 + 116 = 2064, " you see what I'm driving at asked Maggie smiling?
"Now we have arrived at three loose dates for the beginning of the Tribulation period 2054, 2070 and 2064, the average for these three years would be, 2064 but remember, God has said he would shorten the days near the end so it could be earlier," explained Maggie.
"So if we believe Enoch and we have no reason not to, the Great Tribulation mentioned in the Bible will begin sometime around 2064, followed by a further 12 Jewish Prime Ministers who will run a term of office during the tribulation period," claimed Maggie.
"Wow," I said.
"Maggie went on, "conclusion, Cooper, Bible prophecy points to the beginning of the pangs of distress for our planet (End Times) starting in 1914, according to The Ancient Book Of Enoch, the beginning of the Great Tribulation Will Begin some time around 2064."
"And Enoch mentions in his book, ignoring prophecy is a serious sin," said Maggie.
We arrived back on the boulevard at 9: pm we had walked for a good two and a half hours, it was still sunny, the sun doesn't set in this part of the world till around 10: pm in early July.
I asked Maggie if we should have dinner on the terrace.
"Fine by me, I have an enormous appetite after the walk," she said.

We sat down at the fish restaurant under my apartment balcony, the aroma from the cooking was infectious. I ordered Maggie and me a cold beer which the waiter brought along with two menus.
"What do you fancy honey," I asked.
"I'm going for the gebakken sliptong, (young sole), fried in butter," she said.
"Me too Maggie," I said.
Our arms legs and faces had caught the sun, even though we had a factor 30 rubbed into our skin.
The restaurant was buzzing with diners and drinkers and the atmosphere was electric, a guy with an acoustic guitar was singing Dutch folk songs, I looked around at the happy faces, laughter and joy was the order of the night.
I looked at Maggie and grabbed her hands, I looked into her eyes, her wonderful green sparkling eyes.
"The world situation will just keep worsening up to the tribulation point, today will be better than tomorrow and so on," I said.
"We have to play the cards we are dealt with darling, otherwise we would go insane with worry and, I still haven't told you what the Bible promises after the tribulation, but that's for another time, enough for now," she leaned over and kissed me.
The fish was delicious, we sat there both watching the sun go down beneath the water horizon, it was still warm. It was perfect.

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