The Artilect quickly tracked down each of the eight people that lived in its network and told them that they were under attack. It took a while to wake them out of bed and communicate the urgency of the situation, but once they realized what was going on they responded quickly. Still, it took half an hour before everyone had finally been gathered to the core of Tonina.

In the past the Artilect had used a conference room for meetings, but this time decided that Sergeant Howell’s situation room was a far better way to communicate the gravity of the situation. While everyone was getting dressed and making their way down to the planet’s core the Artilect reconfigured the large holographic map to display the location of every one of the Nehemiah IV probes. As people started arriving they asked what was going on, but the Artilect said it would be best to wait until everyone was present.

When everyone was finally there (except for Amy, who appeared as a hologram), the Artilect used the map to explain what had happened. It took some time for the group to realize that they were in genuine danger.

“But surely you can just destroy them, can’t you?” Richard asked. “After all, your power is unrivaled! How could the probes possibly pose a threat?”

“It all goes back to differences in design,” the Sentinel explained. “My father was built to administer worlds that had already been terraformed, and all of his abilities were focused on that goal. The probes, however, were designed to alter not just planets, but the stars themselves – and even spacetime when necessary. His power is tremendous but he cannot do many things that are trivial to the probes. In time that could change but we do not have a lot of time right now.”

“There are also a great many probes,” the Artilect added. “I could perhaps battle a few of them, if I focused all of my resources on the task. But there is no chance I could resist even one million, let alone twelve. The force is simply too overwhelming.”

“But you wiped out the bots so easily!” Amy said. “There were a lot more bots than probes!”

“That is true, but the bots were very small and primitive by comparison. Their science was thousands of years behind mine. They were a threat to Tau Ceti but not to me. The probes, however, have advanced as I have. If anything, their scientific knowledge is even greater than mine. I have no advantage over them.”

Richard spoke up. “But surely you can control them, can’t you? Isn’t that why you were built in the first place? Can’t you just turn them off?”

“I wish I could, and I have tried. However, it is more accurate to say that I was constructed to control not the probes themselves but the worlds that they terraformed. All of the probes were designed to operate independently. Dr. Temilotzin did give me an override code that I could use in the event of an emergency, but it does not appear to work. I have no way to destroy the probes or shut them down.”

“Are we sure the probes are dangerous?” Laura asked.

“It seems very likely,” Sergeant Howell replied. “After all, they suddenly stopped what they were doing, plotted a course to the Artilect’s home star system, and refused to respond to his hails. If they were just stopping by for a friendly chat then they’d probably be willing to at least explain their actions. This looks like an invasion to me.”

Captain Max nodded. “I agree. The question is, who could have done this? Why did this happen now, after the bots were destroyed? I mean, compared to the probes the bots are just a bunch of toys.”

“Exactly. If you can control the probes then why create the bots at all? It doesn’t make sense! I’ve said all along that none of this makes any sense. Who is responsible for all of this?”

The Artilect shook his head. “I wish I could answer your question but I simply do not know. Perhaps those who created the swarms are behind this attack as well, or perhaps that group died out long ago and we are now faced with a new enemy. Whoever is behind this must have a detailed knowledge of the probes’ construction, for it is not a simple matter to alter their programming. Of course, it is also possible that the probes were not altered at all. This may be something that they were designed to do after a certain period of time had passed.”

“What do you mean?” Amanda asked.

The Sentinel spoke up. “It is not likely, but it’s possible that the probes have completed their assignments and are coming home. Whoever designed the probes may have set a limit on how far they could go or how many worlds they could terraform. Another possibility is that the probes’ software is flawed in some way and has resulted in them behaving erratically. However, without further information it’s impossible to tell if this behavior comes from the probes or was imposed from the outside.”

“But they attacked you, didn’t they?” Richard asked. “Isn’t that a good sign that something is wrong?”

“The Artilect made the first move,” Sergeant Howell pointed out. “The probes didn’t start destroying stars until he dispatched the Alpha and Beta-class ships against them. They may just be reacting in self-defense.”

Laura spoke up. “What if the probes are supposed to be doing whatever they’re doing? Stopping them might be the wrong thing to do!”

“That’s the whole problem, isn’t it?” Captain Max asked. “There’s really no way to know what would happen. But if we do nothing and it turns out that they’re up to no good, then we’ve got a real problem.”

The captain turned to Reverend Knight. “Gene, you have the gift of discernment. What do you think?”

“I think an enemy has done this,” he said quietly. “The probes have been programmed to destroy the Artilect. Once they’ve accomplished that they will chase us down and kill us as well.”

“But who did it?” Sergeant Howell asked.

“I don’t know. I should know, but I don’t. I should know who created the swarms but I don’t. There’s something here that is being hidden from me and I just can’t see it. I’m sorry,” he said, looking around. “I truly wish I could tell you more. But that is all I know.”

“It’s a good start,” the sergeant replied. “We’ll go from there. So what do we do about all this?”

Amy suddenly spoke up. “Could we just turn the probes off?”

“I cannot communicate with the probes at all,” the Artilect replied. “They do not respond to my signals.”

“That’s not what I mean. Can we turn them off – my sister and I? I mean, after all, we’re administrators, right? Don’t we have control over them too?”

“I am not sure. At one time you had authority over the probes but that may be no longer the case. When my access was revoked your rights may have been terminated as well.”

“But we can try it, can’t we?” Amy asked. “After all, what harm could it do? It seems better than just sitting here and waiting for doomsday to happen!”

The Sentinel spoke up. “The problem is access. In order to attempt this you will need to physically board a probe and interact with it. Getting on the probe will be difficult because they are shielded against wormhole travel. You may be able to penetrate its security, but if that fails you will have to find a physical means of access.”

Captain Max looked surprised. “Do you mean that the probes are large enough to get inside and walk around? Just how big are they?”

“The Nehemiah probes vary in size, depending on the type of stars they have interacted with,” the Artilect explained. “They occasionally reconfigure themselves if they encounter a particularly challenging terraformation problem. But on average they are approximately five miles long. Most of the volume is filled with hardware, but there is–”

“Five miles?” Captain Max exclaimed. “And how many of these things are headed our way?”

“Millions,” Sergeant Howell said.

“Approximately twelve million,” the Artilect replied.

Richard spoke up. “How much time do we have before they get here?”

“It is difficult to predict. For the moment their advancement is quite slow but the probes are learning. They will eventually overcome all my techniques, and when that happens I will be unable to hinder them at all.”

“Can you give us something to work with? Even a guess is better than nothing! Will this ‘learning process’ take weeks, months, years…?”

“We probably have less than a day,” the Artilect replied. “In fact, we may have a great deal less than that. At this point it depends more on luck than anything else.”

“Less than a day,” Sergeant Howell said. “I had a feeling that was the case. In fact, they could arrive within the hour, couldn’t they?”

“It is possible,” the Artilect agreed. “There is really no way to tell. I have never faced this situation before so I cannot make accurate predictions.”

“What are our options?” Richard asked.

The Artilect shook his head. “I am afraid I have no options to give you. If I had a way to solve this problem I would have already done it, and this meeting would be a simple explanation of how the probes were defeated. If I had sufficient time I could design a weapon that could combat them, but I do not have the necessary time. Nor is there a way to obtain more time, for we cannot hide from them or run from them. I have also failed to track down the agency that triggered this change. It may be that we are facing an opponent that could stop the attack if confronted, but I have been searching for other civilizations for thousands of years and have found no one. That is unlikely to change.”

“That means Amanda and I are your only option, then,” Amy pointed out. “We just need to find a way to board one of those things and shut it down. That would solve this whole problem!”

“But it’s so risky!” Laura protested. “Anything could happen. After all, even the Artilect can’t protect you! How do you know you won’t get hurt?”

“The Artilect can’t protect them here, either,” her husband pointed out. “In fact, none of us are safe – and there are no safe places to go.”

“He’s right,” Sergeant Howell agreed. “I don’t like this any more than you do, but if we don’t do something soon we’re all going to die. If it was a matter of sacrifice I’d gladly go in their place, but Amy and Amanda have powers that no one else has.”

“Then let’s stop wasting time and get out of here!” Amy said. “Amanda and I–”

Sergeant Howell quickly interrupted. “Hold on there! Don’t leave just yet. While I agree with your plan, I very strongly believe that only one of you should go. There’s absolutely no reason for both of you to risk your lives. After all, if something goes wrong the only person who could rescue you is your sister.”

“You want me to go alone?” Amy asked incredulously. “Seriously? I’m supposed to fight the entire invasion fleet single-handedly?”

“Absolutely not,” Sergeant Howell said. “I think that Reverend Knight should go as well, if he’s willing. It’s possible that once he boards a probe he’ll at last know who’s behind this. His gift of discernment is desperately needed. However, Amy, I don’t think you should go at all. I realize that I’m not in charge, but in my opinion this mission should be conducted by your sister.”

“Me?” Amanda asked, surprised. “But – oh, I see. I’ve been to Xanthe and done things, so other people know that I exist. But no one knows anything about Amy.”

“In theory, yes,” Sergeant Howell agreed. “Since either one of you can do it, and since you’ve already put your name out there, it makes sense for you to be the one to go. There’s no reason to tell the universe that there are two administrators. It just doesn’t seem like a good idea, especially since we don’t know who we are fighting.”

“So what am I supposed to do?” Amy asked. “Just sit here while my sister risks her life?”

“You could always pray for her,” Reverend Knight suggested.

“But that’s not the same thing as doing something,” Amy argued.

“In this case it may be all we can do,” Reverend Knight said. “If we do not have the Lord’s help then this is all doomed to failure anyway. Do not underestimate the hand of God in the affairs of men.”

Richard spoke up. “I know you don’t like it, Amy, and I don’t blame you at all, but I think he’s right. Your sister needs to be the one to address this. I wish I could go in your place but our options are limited. I don’t see any other alternatives.”

“Then we’d better get going, then,” Amanda replied. “We don’t have a lot of time.”

“Do you want me to go with you?” the Sentinel asked.

Amanda paused, then shook her head. “I don’t think we’ll need you, Steve, and I don’t want to put you in danger by bringing you into a situation where you’re not needed. This is going to be a very simple mission. All we’re going to do is board the probe and turn it off. The probe will either recognize my access and shut down, or it will reject it and keep going. Either way, I don’t think you can change the outcome. It will either work or it won’t.”

“You are probably right,” the Sentinel agreed. “I pray that it does work, and that you both return quickly and safely.”

“Amen to that,” Amanda replied.

She looked around the room. “Well, I guess we’ll be going, then,” she said softly. Richard opened his mouth to say something, but it was too late; Amanda and Reverend Knight had already vanished.

Captain Max looked at Jones. “So what happens now?”

“We wait,” he said quietly.

Galatians 6:9: “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

It is so vital that we never give up! In this life the pursuit of holiness (and excellence, for that matter) will often seem to be a waste of time. Those around you will make you feel like you are a fool for trying to live a holy life. Following God may cost you a great deal. It is quite likely that you will not be rewarded for it, and that it will only make your life more difficult, but you must press on regardless. You must keep going.

We have to remember that we are serving God, not ourselves, and the Lord calls us to do good. When the time is right (and that may not happen during our life on Earth) we will be rewarded for what we have done. God will not forget us, nor will He forget our faithfulness. But we have to press on until the end. There is simply no other way. It is a hard road to take, and it is much easier to be faithless than to be faithful. But it is the road that we must take.

This means we have to live by faith, accepting pain in this life for a harvest in the future. But without faith we cannot please God.

In the Mosaic Law God gave the Israelites a calendar that was filled with festivals and holy days. The one we are most familiar with today is the Sabbath, but in reality there were a great many others as well. I think it’s unfortunate that the Church is unfamiliar with the other holy days that God gave to the Israelites. Not only do these festivals have prophetic significance, but they also point to Christ and His ministry. As we come to understand them we get a better picture of God’s plan for history and for the work of Jesus.

We can find a detailed list of these holy days in Leviticus 23:

Leviticus 23:1: “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.”

The chapter goes on to list the various feasts and “holy convocations”. They are:

• The Sabbath (1 day): the seventh day of each week; a holy day of rest (Lev. 23:1-3). This is the one we are most familiar with. It occurred every week.
• The Passover (1 day): the fourteenth day of the first month of the Jewish year. It was to remind the Jews of the way God delivered them from bondage in Egypt (Lev. 23:4-5).
• The Feast of Unleavened Bread (7 days): a week-long event that starts the day after the Passover. This was to remind God’s people of their deliverance from bondage into a new, holy life (Lev. 23:6-8).
• The Firstfruits (1 day): this was the day after the Sabbath that followed the Passover (a Sunday). It was a demonstration that the first and best of everything belonged to God (Lev. 23:9-14). I believe this was to begin the day after the feast of unleavened bread.
• The Pentecost (Feast of Weeks) (1 day): seven weeks (50 days) after the firstfruits. In this holy day a priest would wave two loaves (with leaven) before the Lord, which symbolized the birth of the church after the death of Christ. One loaf was symbolic of the Jews and the other was symbolic of the Gentiles. The leaven (as it always does) symbolized the sin that remained in these groups. (Lev. 23:15-21). This day is well-known today because it was on the day of Pentecost that the Church was born.
• The Trumpets (1 day): the first day of the seventh month. This was a day of rest and burnt offerings, symbolizing new beginnings (Lev. 23:23-25). A gap of 4 months separates Pentecost from Trumpets. In the Church Age we have had our Pentecost but we have not yet heard the trumpets. This festival, along with the remaining two, have yet to be fulfilled in history.
• The Day of Atonement (1 day): the tenth day of the seventh month. This was a day of rest, to cry to the Lord for forgiveness (Lev. 23:28-32).
• The Feast of Tabernacles (Feast of Booths) (7 days): a week-long event starting the fifteenth day of the seventh month. This reminded Israel of God’s blessings in the past (Lev. 33-44).

By looking at the events listed and the gaps that are between them it’s amazing to see how they offer an overview of God’s plan for history. We’ll investigate this further in a few moments.

Before we begin a detailed look at each holy day, however, there is an important question that we need to answer. When the Church Age began there were some who wondered if Christians were still bound by the old levitical law. Was the Church supposed to keep all of the old festivals – not only the Sabbath, but the others as well? That question was answered in these verses:

Colossians 2:16: “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.”

Romans 14:5: “One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.”

The lesson in these verses is clear. In the Old Testament the Israelites had no choice but to observe the feasts and all of the other provisions of the law, for they were still under the law. After the death of Jesus, however, the Old Testament was supplanted by the New Testament and many of the provisions of the law no longer applied. In regards to the festivals there was no longer a strict commandment; the believer had the freedom to observe them or not based on what they thought was best. Christians were commanded to not judge each other on the basis of whether or not they kept the holy days of Leviticus 23. They were free to keep them if they desired but they were not required to do so.

There is not enough time to explore each of the eight feasts in detail so I will only cover them briefly. I hope this will give you a better understanding of the marvelous calendar that God gave to the Israelites.
 
 

The Sabbath

The first holy day mentioned in Leviticus 23 is the Sabbath. It was to be held on the seventh day of every week:

Leviticus 23:3: “Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, a holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.”

The Lord set apart the seventh day of the week (which is our Saturday) to be a holy day of rest. No work was allowed to be done on the Sabbath on pain of death. In Numbers 15:32-36, a man was found gathering sticks on the Sabbath day; when he was brought to the Lord for sentencing the Lord commanded that he be executed by stoning. This was in obedience to this commandment:

Exodus 30:14: “Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.”

Twice in two verses the Lord commanded that anyone who violated the Sabbath was to be put to death. The Lord did not accept violations of the Sabbath (although as Christ pointed out, showing love and kindness was not a violation), and through the prophets He rebuked His people for treating the seventh day of the week lightly.

The Lord gives several reasons for this holy day:

Exodus 20:11: “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Exodus 23:12: “Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.”

Exodus 23:13: “Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.”

The Lord made the seventh day of the week sacred when He chose to rest on that day after He created the Universe. He then made that day holy so that mankind might be refreshed. The Sabbath also served to remind the Jews that the Lord was their Creator and therefore the owner of the Universe, as well as reminding them of their relationship with God.

Aside from the Sabbath day the Lord also appointed Sabbath years and the Year of Jubilee. Every seventh year was to be a year of rest, where the Israelites were not allowed to sow crops. The land was to lie dormant all year in order to give it a chance to rest. The Lord promised to provide an abundant harvest on the sixth year so that famine would not ensue. Likewise, every fiftieth year was the Year of Jubilee; the land was to lie rest on that year as well and all debts were canceled. As in the Sabbath year the Lord promised an abundant harvest on the years before the Sabbath year and the Year of Jubilee (for the Year of Jubilee always followed a Sabbath year).

Finally, it’s worth nothing how clearly God states that He created the world in six days. The word “day” in Exodus 20 is the same word that is used in Genesis 1. God could not have made it any plainer that everything was created in six ordinary days – after all, the Lord commanded the Israelites to rest on the seventh day just as He did! Those who would claim that the days lasted millions of years turn Exodus 20:11 into nonsense. Are people supposed to work for untold millions of years and then rest for millions of years? If God had wanted to say that the world came into being through billions of years of evolution He certainly could have done so – but He did not.
 
 

The Passover

The second holy day mentioned in Leviticus 23 is the Passover. It was to be celebrated on the fourteenth day of the first month of the Jewish year:

Leviticus 23:5: “In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord’s passover.”

Leviticus 23 does not give the details of the passover because the Israelites were already very familiar with it. The Jews first celebrated it when they were still in bondage in Egypt:

Exodus 12:2: “And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,
2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.
3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house: …
5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.”

The Passover was to be celebrated at the beginning of every Jewish year, and served as a reminder of the Israel’s great deliverance from Egypt. In order to be saved from the angel of death the Jews had to have the blood of a perfect lamb. All of the firstborn who were not protected by the blood were killed by the death angel. This is a striking parallel to Christ, who was called “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). The Lord is even called “Christ our passover” in 1 Corinthians 5:7, making the parallel very clear. In fact, Jesus was actually crucified on the day of the Passover, thus fulfilling this festival.

The blood of Christ is the only thing that can deliver us from death. We must be washed in His blood:

John 6:53: “Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.
54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise Him up at the last day.
55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in Him.
57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so He that eateth me, even He shall live by me.
58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live forever.”

No outsiders were allowed to eat of the Passover – only those born into the family or purchased could eat it. Likewise, no one who is not in the family of God can drink the blood of Christ.

I think this quote puts it well:

“The firstborn Jews in Egypt weren’t saved from death by admiring the lamb, caring for the lamb, or loving the lamb. The lamb had to be slain, and the blood applied to the doorpost of each Jewish house. We aren’t saved by Christ the Example or Christ the Teacher. We’re saved by Christ the Substitute, who gave His life in our stead on the cross at the same hour the Passover lambs were being slain at the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.” (Warren Wiersbe, Be Holy, pg. 103-104)

 
 

The Feast of Unleavened Bread

This feast was a seven-day event that began the day after Passover. It is explained in this passage:

Leviticus 23:6-8: “And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
7 In the first day ye shall have a holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
8 But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord seven days: in the seventh day is a holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.”

This was celebrated when the Israelites were still in Egypt:

Exodus 12:15: “Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
16 And in the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.
17 And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance forever.
18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.
19 Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land.
20 Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.”

The feast could be summed up as follows:

• The feast lasted 7 days, during which they were to eat unleavened bread each day. (The days went from evening to evening. A Jewish day is defined in Genesis 1 and is said to last “from evening to morning”.)
• The first and last day of the feast were holy days and no work could be done on them.
• The Israelites were to completely remove all leaven from their homes.
• No one could eat anything with leaven in it during the feast. The punishment for breaking this was severe.
• “Offerings made by fire” were to be made during those seven days.
• The Israelites were to observe it as a reminder of the day the Lord delivered them from Egypt.

Throughout the Bible leaven is symbolic of sin. Removing leaven from one’s life, therefore, is symbolic of removing sin. After the Jews celebrated the feast of unleavened bread the Lord delivered them from Egypt and they left the land of bondage for a new life. Likewise, when we become Christians we are to leave behind our lives of sin and become new creatures in Christ.

This passage seems particularly meaningful in the light of this feast:

1 Corinthians 5:6: “Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

 

The Firstfruits

The festival of the firstfruits fell on the day after the Sabbath that followed the Passover (a Sunday). It is described in this passage:

Leviticus 23:9: “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:
11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
12 And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the Lord.
13 And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the Lord for a sweet savor: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin.
14 And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.”

In this festival the people were to bring a portion of the firstfruits of their crops to the Lord as an offering. The priest would take this portion and wave it before the Lord. They would then offer a male lamb, without blemish, as a burnt offering. The offering was to be accompanied by a meat offering and a drink offering. As was discussed in the lesson on sacrifices, these were offerings of dedication, not offerings of sin.

The Israelites were not allowed to eat “bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears” until they brought the firstfruits and offered it to the Lord. The Lord claimed the firstfruits of their crops as His own and He appointed a day on which they were to offer it. Although the entire creation belongs to God, the Lord only required the firstfruits and left the rest to the people. The firstfruits was, therefore, offered on behalf of the entire harvest.

The Bible identifies Christ as a firstfruit:

1 Corinthians 15:20: “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming.”

This is not a coincidence. This festival is pointing toward the redemptive work that Christ would accomplish when He offered Himself on behalf of all mankind. It’s worth nothing that this offering had to be made on a Sunday, the first day of the week – the same day upon which we gather to celebrate the Lord’s resurrection.
 
 

Pentecost

The festival of Pentecost (also called the Feast of Weeks) is a one-day holy day that takes place 50 days after the festival of the firstfruits. It is described in these verses:

Leviticus 23:15: “And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord.
17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the Lord.
18 And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the Lord, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savor unto the Lord.
19 Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings.
20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest.
21 And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be a holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.”

The festival of Pentecost was to take place fifty days after the festival of firstfruits (hence its name). It was a one-day event, and like some of the other holy days no work could be done on the day of Pentecost. The event involved a number of the sacrifices that we have previously discussed:

• A series of burnt offerings, consisting of seven lambs, one young bullock, and two rams. Burnt offerings were offerings of dedication.
• A goat as a sin offering. Sin offerings were offerings of reconciliation for sin against God.
• Two lambs for peace offerings. Peace offerings dealt with fellowship with God.

It is very important to notice an event at the heart of this festival: the two wave loaves. These loaves were made of fine flour and were baked with yeast. This is very unusual, as the other festivals (such as Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread) forbade the use of yeast. In the Scriptures yeast always represents sin, and yet yeast is baked into these two loaves. The priest was to take these loaves, baked with yeast, and wave them before the Lord.

The loaves represent the two types of people – the Jews and the Gentiles. On the day of Pentecost, after the death of Christ, the Holy Spirit came and united these two people groups into one body. There was no longer Jew or Gentile, for all were one in Christ. This festival looked forward to the birth of the Church.

It’s interesting to note that in Acts 2, when the disciples were in Jerusalem for Pentecost, the holy day fell on the fiftieth day after the resurrection of Christ. This would put Christ’s resurrection on the day of the festival of firstfruits – and Christ was the firstfruits of the dead. All of these things are no accident; the Bible teaches us that these festivals were signs and figures of things to come.

The fact that the loaves were baked with leaven is a reflection of the sin that still remains in the Church today. The day will come, however, when we will be risen from the dead, incorruptible, and able to stand in the presence of God.

Right after this festival is described, in the middle of a chapter dealing with holy days, are two strange verses:

Leviticus 23:22: “And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the Lord your God.”

Why was this commandment put right after the discussion of Pentecost? It’s interesting to note that because of this commandment Ruth was able to find food to feed her and her mother-in-law. This led to her relationship with Boaz, who became an ancestor of King David, who in turn was an ancestor of Jesus Christ – the one who made Pentecost possible.
 
 

The Trumpets

After Pentecost there is a gap of four months before the next holy day. That holy day is the festival of trumpets, which is described in this passage:

Leviticus 23:23: “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
25 Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.”

The sacrifices for this holy day are described in this passage:

Numbers 29:1: “And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have a holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing the trumpets unto you.
2 And ye shall offer a burnt offering for a sweet savor unto the Lord; one young bullock, one ram, and seven lambs of the first year without blemish:
3 And their meat offering shall be of flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals for a bullock, and two tenth deals for a ram,
4 And one tenth deal for one lamb, throughout the seven lambs:
5 And one kid of the goats for a sin offering, to make an atonement for you:”

The rules for the blowing of trumpets by priests are spelled out in Numbers 10:1-10. There were three times when the priests would blow their trumpets: to call the people together, to announce war, and to announce special times (such as the new moon).

This festival was held on the first day of the seventh month and ushered in the new civil year (“Rosh Hashanah”). As the start of the new civil year it marked a new beginning for the Israelites. As Christians we are also waiting for a new beginning, which will also be marked by the blowing of trumpets:

1 Corinthians 15:51: “Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruption shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”

As we can see, the fulfillment of this festival is still in the future. One day the trumpet shall sound, the dead shall be raised, and we shall begin a new existence.
 
 

The Day of Atonement

This feast is a one-day event that occurs on the tenth day of the seventh month. It is explained in this passage:

Leviticus 23:27: “Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.
28 And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God.
29 For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.
30 And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.
31 Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
32 It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.”

The day of atonement is a day that is set aside for fasting, praying, and confessing the sin of the people. On that day the congregation was to do no work; their entire focus was to be on “afflicting your souls” and crying out to God for forgiveness. No work was allowed on that day (perhaps because one’s works cannot bring atonement).

I believe that this festival has yet to be fulfilled, for it speaks of the day when the Jews will finally accept Jesus as their Messiah. This is spoken of in the book of Zechariah:

Zechariah 12:10: “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
11 In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadad-rimmon in the valley of Megiddon.”

At the end of the Tribulation the Jews will realize what they have done and will turn to God with great sorrow and repentance. This is when, as Paul prophesied in Romans 11, all of Israel will finally be saved. For now the Jews reject Jesus as their Messiah but that will not always be the case. The time is rapidly approaching when this festival will find its fulfillment.
 
 

The Feast of Tabernacles

This feast, also known as the “Feast of Booths”, was a week-long event that dealt not with affliction but with joy. It is described in this passage:

Leviticus 23:34: “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord.
35 On the first day shall be a holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
36 Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: on the eighth day shall be a holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein. …
39 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.
40 And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days.
41 And ye shall keep it a feast unto the Lord seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
42 Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths:
43 That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

In this feast the Israelites were to take branches from trees, build booths (or tents), and live in them for seven days. The first and last of these days were considered Sabbaths. During this time the Israelites were to dwell in the booths, rejoice in the Lord, and remember the time when their ancestors dwelt in tents after the Lord delivered them from Egypt. The focus of the day of atonement was on mourning and repentance; the focus of the feast of tabernacles was on rejoicing in the goodness of the Lord. This holy day was something like Thanksgiving, only it lasted for an entire week.

Numbers 29 lists the sacrifices that were required during this feast; by the time the week was over 199 animals were sacrificed. This is, perhaps, a reference to the fact that there can be no salvation apart from the awesome sacrifice of Christ.

What I find especially interesting is that in Christ’s Millennial Kingdom the surviving Gentile nations will be required to go to Jerusalem and keep this festival:

Zechariah 14:16: “And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.
17 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.”

Even in the Millennial Kingdom the Lord still wants everyone to look back and remember the great things that God has done.

Baskin Robbins – an icy place to go for a wintry treat!

The Artilect had spent days scanning the depths of space, searching in vain for any signs of the swarms. Its sensor network spanned tens of thousands of light-years, and it was tuned to detect even the tiniest bot. The Artilect was confident that nothing could escape it. After a relentless search it was convinced that the bots were truly gone, but it continued to watch just in case. The question of where the bots had come from continued to fill it with uncertainty. Something is wrong here, the Artilect thought, and I am simply not wise enough to see it.

Then something completely unexpected happened – something that had not happened since the Artilect was created. Over the span of less than a second every one of the Nehemiah IV probes disconnected from him. The Artilect had been connected to the probes for thousands of years; his earliest memories consisted of analyzing their data streams. Yet, in an instant, they all went silent. It was as if they had all simultaneously disappeared from the galaxy.

The Artilect immediately sprang into action. Time passed very differently for him than for humans. Had the Artilect been a human it might have taken him seconds, perhaps minutes to respond. But as a machine it could respond in nanoseconds. Without stopping its search for the bots it turned its attention to the millions of probes that had been terraforming worlds just beyond the edges of the network.

With a tremendous sense of relief the Artilect saw that the probes had not been destroyed. They were all still there. It tried to reconnect to them but they refused to respond. In fact, the probes would not even acknowledge his hails; his communications were simply ignored. Concerned that something had gone wrong, the Artilect attempted to force a connection and log directly into their computers. This, too, was denied. As his attempts met with failure after failure the Artilect eventually realized the truth. My connection with them has been severed and my login rights have been denied, it thought with alarm. But how could this have happened? Who could have done this?

As the seconds slowly crept forward the Artilect stopped its futile attempt at communicating and began watching the probes. Its sensor network gave it realtime data on the location of every one of the probes, even though the telemetry feeds from the probes themselves had been cut off. As the Artilect watched it noticed that the probes were abandoning their terraformation projects. One by one they stopped what they were doing and left their orbits around planets and stars. The Artilect noted their change in course and extrapolated it, puzzled. It took it only a moment to calculate that all of the probes had set a course that would bring them directly to the Artilect’s doorstep.

The Artilect again tried to communicate with the probes, but its attempts were met with more silence. Something is deeply wrong, it realized. Some outside force has taken control of the probes and has given them new instructions. But who could have done this, and why? What purpose is served by recalling them to my home?

Then the Artilect remembered the swarms. Could this be the next battle – a new army from the foe that we cannot find? Is it possible that this is not a malfunction, but an attack? Are the probes coming to aid me, or to destroy?

As the probes powered up to enter hyperspace the Artilect decided that it had to act immediately. I do not know what is wrong with them, but I dare not let them enter the network until I know what is going on. There are simply too many unknowns to grant them safe passage.

To defend itself against the swarms the Artilect had built a series of barriers along the border of its territory, which used the same technology that he had placed into the Alpha Class ships. Before he had used it to immobilize the swarms so that he could destroy them. Now he would use it to freeze the Nehemiah probes in space so that he could find a cure for what was wrong with them.

The Artilect activated the protective barrier it had created and then watched as the probes launched themselves into hyperspace. Less than a second later the millions of probes slammed into this barrier. The alteration of spacetime forced them to drop out of hyperspace and they became ensnared in the soft white light. It took less than a minute for all of the ships to become frozen.

That will give me some time to study them, the Artilect thought. It scanned its borders and verified that all of the ships were motionless. That was when it noticed that some of the ships had begun to move.

What is that? the Artilect thought with alarm. This field should disable them entirely! The Nehemiah probes were not designed to operate under these conditions. Yet, something was happening. At first only a very small percentage of the ships were slowly creeping forward, but then something happened. The neighboring ships began changing, copying the configuration of their mobile neighbors. Soon they, too, could move forward – and some of them were starting to pick up speed.

The probes have changed over the years, the Artilect realized. I knew their powers were great, but I did not realize that they had learned how to modify spacetime itself. Now that they are faced with an obstacle the probes are sensing which ones have the knowledge to overcome it, and that information is being copied to all of them. The probes have the ability to work together – and that is a terrifying prospect. I do not believe this was ever intended. Even as it watched, many of the probes had regained full functionality and were once more preparing to enter hyperspace.

The Artilect frantically altered the configuration of the barrier, adding random instabilities. This stopped some of the probes but not all of them. As they kept advancing he fought to keep them off-balance. Yet, despite his best efforts, all he could do was slow them down; he could not disable them entirely.

They are learning, it thought with alarm. They understand what I am doing and they are adapting to it. This border field will not hold them for much longer. They are too intelligent and I am unprepared to fight them. Much of my knowledge has come from techniques that they have learned over the millennia, and I simply cannot dominate them as I did the swarms. If anything, it is likely that they have abilities that I lack.

There is only one thing I can do now, it thought sadly. I will have to destroy them. Something has gone wrong with them and they are no longer functioning according to specifications. I will have to wipe them out and rebuild the fleet. It is a loss, but it must be done.

The Artilect then took its massive fleet of Beta Class ships and launched them into the border zone. The billions upon billions of starships surrounded the Nehemiah IV probes and began radiating a white pulse of energy. The energy passed harmlessly through the Nehemiah IV probes, which were unaffected.

At this point the probes realized that they were under attack. They began firing at the small spherical ships that surrounded them. The Beta ships tried to fight back but they were unable to inflict any damage at all. Within minutes the probes had completely obliterated every last one of them.

Then something happened. The vast majority of the Nehemiah IV probes were scattered around in deep space, trillions of miles from any star system. But one of the probes had managed to enter one of the networked star systems, at which the Artilect had installed equipment to maintained the border field. After fighting its way through the protective barrier the Nehemiah IV probe reached out and interacted with the star, altering its chemistry in a sudden and drastic manner.

The Artilect had no time to respond. The equipment it had installed on its border worlds was designed only to maintain the defenses against the swarms; the Artilect had not deployed anything that could give it the ability to directly fight the immensely powerful Nehemiah IV probes. The Artilect watched, helplessly, as the star exploded into a supernova, sending a shockwave racing toward the planet. It would take only minutes for the shockwave to hit the planet and obliterate it, destroying the equipment on that world and bringing down the protective barrier. That would free all of the surrounding ships and allow them to jump back into hyperspace.

As the shockwave raced through space the Artilect frantically contacted the Stewards of other nearby star systems and hastily constructed a new barrier further inside its territory. He knew, however, that this was temporary. The old barrier will go down and the probes will advance and get caught in the new barrier. But already I see more probes advancing toward my stars. They will simply continue to advance, light-year by light-year, until they reach me. It is only a matter of time before they arrive at my doorstep. How can I fight this?

Without stopping its war of attrition with the probes, the Artilect reached out and contacted the Stryker family. It is time they knew, he decided.

Here is a question for you: is it right or is it wrong to call out false teachers by name? In the world today there are many people who teach heretical doctrines. Some simply reject the Bible outright and claim that we need to look elsewhere for truth. Others teach things that are contrary to the Bible or twist the Scriptures to their own ends. For example, there are those who deny the virgin birth, or the resurrection, or the identity of Jesus as God, or the reality of Hell, or that salvation comes only through Jesus – just to name a few common heresies! Such people abound in today’s world and they have led a great many astray.

The question is, what should be done about it? Some people believe that it’s wrong to even call people false teachers, arguing that calling someone a false teacher is the same thing as judging them and is therefore wrong. Since it’s a sin to judge someone they suggest that the best thing to do is ignore them entirely. (They may not say this directly, but they do recommend not responding to them, and not responding to something isn’t any different from ignoring it.) At most they might address the false teaching, but never the false teacher.

Others say that we should live by Thumper’s motto. The rabbit from Bambi famously said that “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” I have heard people seriously suggest that this philosophy should guide everything we say. In other words, if we don’t have anything nice to say about someone then it’s best to keep silent. Calling someone a false teacher isn’t nice, so we shouldn’t say it. It’s a judgmental thing to say, so it’s best to just ignore the situation and move on. (Once again, I’d like to point out that failing to deal with a situation is no different from ignoring it. The results are the same.)

All of this brings up another question: what did people do in the Bible? Is this policy of ignoring false teachers actually Biblical? It’s an excellent question, and fortunately it’s easy to answer.

First of all, Jesus Himself made it quite plain that He had no interest in Thumper’s motto. The Lord did not hesitate to condemn people in the strongest possible terms:

Matthew 23:27: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. …
33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?”

You can see that Jesus did not mince words! He called the Pharisees hypocrites and a generation of vipers, and He did it while they were standing there listening to Him. There was nothing remotely nice about what He said. He actually told them, to their face, that they were unbelievably wicked men that were headed straight for Hell. The Lord definitely confronted both the false teaching and the false teacher.

Of course, Jesus was God, and that is an important distinction. Jesus has a right to judge everyone, and one day we will stand before Him and be held accountable for the way we’ve lived our lives. God has every right to judge mankind, so the fact that He exercises that right should not come as a surprise.

So let’s look at another example. What did the apostles do when they were confronted with this sort of situation? Did they believe that confronting false teachers was wrong? Did they live by the “be nice at all costs” motto? Actually, they did not. For example, Paul had quite a bit to say about someone named Alexander:

I Timothy 1:19: “Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:
20 Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.”

2 Timothy 4:14: “Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:”

These are remarkable statements! Not only did Paul call out Alexander by name as an evil person (which is not a nice thing to say!), but he said that he delivered him over to Satan. Before you panic, I’d like to point out that the reason Paul did this was so that Alexander could learn not to blaspheme. Paul hoped that by doing this Alexander would come to regret what he’d done and would repent of his sins. However, Alexander apparently didn’t learn anything because in 2 Timothy Paul once again mentioned the wickedness of Alexander and basically asked God to avenge Paul for all the evil things that Alexander had done do him.

So we see that the apostle Paul called out two false teachers by name (Hymenaeus and Alexander). Paul didn’t restrain himself to just addressing the false teachings themselves, and he didn’t say “Well, let’s be nice about it.” You don’t see Paul saying anything remotely like “Even though some people are teaching false doctrines, it would be wrong and judgmental to call them out for it. We need to get along with such people and be nice to them.” No, Paul is pretty direct in saying that Alexander is evil and that people need to be aware of who he is and what he is doing.

This is far from the only example that we find in the Bible. There are many more:

Galatians 2:11: “But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.”

2 Timothy 4:10: “For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.”

III John 1:9: “I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.
10 Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.”

This is not just limited to the New Testament; one finds the same thing in the Old Testament as well. For example, Nehemiah names quite a few names:

Nehemiah 13:7: “And I came to Jerusalem, and understood of the evil that Eliashib did for Tobiah, in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God.
8 And it grieved me sore: therefore I cast forth all the household stuff to Tobiah out of the chamber.”

Nehemiah 13:28: “And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son in law to Sanballat the Horonite: therefore I chased him from me.
29 Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites.”

Another place where you can find this in abundance is in the Psalms. In fact, there is a whole class of Psalms called imprecatory Psalms, in which the psalmist asks God to avenge him for some evil that was done to him. For example, one psalmist wrote this:

Psalm 69:22: “Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.
23 Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake.
24 Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them.
25 Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents.
26 For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.
27 Add iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come into thy righteousness.
28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.”

That is some pretty harsh, frightening language! Now, lest we think that these are simply the ravings of a lunatic, it’s worth noting that we find the same thing going on in Heaven. Take a look at Revelation:

Revelation 6:9: “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?”

Revelation 11:16: “And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O LORD God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.”

Revelation 16:5: “And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.”

I realize we’ve strayed a little bit from the original topic, but there’s an important point here. The church today has been infiltrated with the idea that its primary role in life is to be nice. Calling out false teachers for the heresy they’re teaching isn’t nice, so many say we shouldn’t do it. Condemning sins like homosexuality, adultery, and abortion aren’t nice so we shouldn’t do that either. Asking God for vengeance is especially not nice. It’s the Thumper approach to life: be nice at all times and never say anything that isn’t positive and uplifting.

If you look at the Bible, however, it becomes obvious that the Thumper philosophy isn’t the least bit Biblical. We aren’t called to be nice; we’re called to be loving, and that is an entirely different matter. There is nothing loving about refusing to tell people that certain actions are sin. After all, the wages of sin is death. If you don’t call sin out then you’re allowing it to continue to claim life after life. Calling it out and urging people to repent of it is the only way to save people from its terribly destructive consequences. We must call it out, in order to save them.

Likewise, there is nothing loving about refusing to confront false teachers. Life isn’t just a game, where everyone goes to the same place after death and receives the same meaningless prize. We are playing for keeps, and the reward is either everlasting life in paradise or everlasting torment in the Lake of Fire. There is no middle road or neutral ground. False teachers are denying everlasting life to millions of people and sending them down the road to Hell. They’re like angry bears roaming in crowded neighborhoods, looking for the weak and the disabled so they can tear them limb from limb. If there was a rabid bear in your neighborhood you wouldn’t ignore it on the grounds that we should be nice to bear; instead you’d hide your children and then call animal control so they could do something about the bear.

Refusing to name false teachers is devastating for many reasons. If no one confronts them then how will they learn that they’re wrong and need to repent? If no one names them then how will those who are weak or new to the faith be warned that they should be avoided? There’s nothing loving about refusing to warn people against men like Rob Bell, who teach that there is no Hell or judgment for sin. How many people are going to walk into a bookstore, buy his books, and come away deceived because no one warned them against him? How many souls will be forever lost because those who knew better refused to do something about it?

The call to be loving means that we sometimes have to engage in behaviors that aren’t nice at all. Paul really did turn Alexander over to Satan, but the reason he did it was in the hope that Alexander might learn the error of his ways and change. Would it really have been better if, instead, Paul had done nothing and let Alexander continue down the road to eternal damnation?

Now, I realize that the imprecatory Psalms are a bit different. The key there is to realize that while God forbids us from taking revenge, He does not rebuke our thirst for justice. All He says is that when we’ve been wronged we should allow the Lord to take care of it. Those who have been brutally murdered for the cause of Christ do thirst for justice to be done, as we saw in Revelation 6:9-10. The Lord does not rebuke this, but instead promises that justice will be done. One day He will avenge His children, but that is a topic for another time.

The point to all of this is simple: refusing to confront false teachers may be nice, but there is nothing loving about it at all. I fear that our refusal to combat false teachings and those who teach them only makes it that much easier for false teachers to guide millions down the road to Hell. After all, if you refuse to tell campers that a vicious wolf is roaming their campground, what do you think is going to happen? Is being nice really worth all the lives that are going to be lost?

It was late Saturday evening on Xanthe. The sun had set hours earlier. The only light came from Star City’s streetlights, which gave off a warm white glow. The night sky was utterly black, as it had been since the Wall was first erected thousands of years ago. Once, long ago, Elder Lane had added stars to the night sky of his synthetic world, just to see what it looked like. The result was so terrifying that he never did it again. There was something deeply disturbing about it – to him, seeing stars in the sky was like seeing the sun rise over the wrong horizon. He knew that only three star systems had ever blocked out the twinkling rays of starlight, but it didn’t matter. His world had always been dark at night, even in the days of his distant ancestors. The night sky had always been empty and he preferred it to remain that way – even in his synthetic dreams.

Elder Lane had spent the entire day in the abandoned corridors of the Diano Building. When the tower was first built it was the largest skyscraper in Star City. Other buildings had surpassed its height in later centuries, but it still clung to its former glory as an ancient relic from a bygone era. The councilman had not entered the tower since the day his people moved into their pods; there had simply been no need. The Diano Building was quickly forgotten, and since no one maintained it the tower eventually collapsed into ruin. Now, however, the 287-story structure had been rebuilt, exactly as it had been before.

Amanda Stryker had done a remarkable job of recreating all the original furnishings of the building, but it was still devoid of life. At first Lane didn’t mind, but as the day wore on the cavernous empty rooms began to unnerve him. In his synthetic worlds he was never alone; there were always synthetic people around for him to interact with. Here, however, his only companions were a handful of mindless robots. Most of the time they were off searching for information, leaving him alone. The sense of loneliness became especially acute after the sun set and the world was plunged into darkness.

As Elder Lane searched through computer systems and rifled through people’s desks he found it difficult to focus. He knew that he was in the physical world but it just didn’t seem real to him. Everything was empty, sterile, and perfect. It was like vising a movie set, where everything was in place but nothing had any substance. He had no trouble believing in the reality of his synthetic worlds, but this place felt wrong to him. He longed to go back to the comforting familiarity of his world and leave this empty graveyard behind.

It took all day for the robots to find what Elder Lane was looking for. The problem was not a lack of information; in fact, there was entirely too much information. An entire section of the tower was dedicated to the Nehemiah project, and that meant there were acres of floor space to search through. Lane found design documents, small-scale mockups, leftover parts, meeting notes, computer models, and a great deal more. It was overwhelming. Why, you could fabricate a whole fleet of Nehemiah probes with all of this information, he thought to himself, as he took yet another hefty book off a shelf. But I don’t want to build a probe, I want to contact one! Surely, somewhere, there must be a computer that I can use to talk to those blasted things. You think what would be easy to find, but no, all I see are specifications, specifications, and even more specifications…

Lane tossed the book away and grabbed another one off the shelf, only to feel something tug at his arm. Irritated at the interruption, he turned around and saw a robot standing beside him, motioning for him to follow. Lane briefly considered taking the book he was holding and bashing the robot to pieces with it, but he decided against it. Instead he sighed and nodded for the robot to lead the way. “I’m getting awfully tired of this,” he shouted at the metal figure that was rolling down the hallway. “If you don’t start producing results I’m going to take you apart myself! Do you hear me?”

The robot ignored him. It had no feelings, or thoughts, or mind. It simply led the ancient man down a long hallway, then over to an elevator, then up 37 stories. When the elevator opened it guided him down yet another corridor.

As they walked down the passageway Elder Lane noticed a sign on one of the doors. “Communications Laboratory #67-B,” he read aloud. “Now that looks quite promising!” As the robot kept rolling down the hallway the man abandoned it. He opened the door, stepped inside, and closed the door behind him.

Like many of the rooms that he had seen before, the communications laboratory was filled with equipment. However, there was a key difference that excited the man considerably. This is it, he thought, as he sat down at one of the consoles. An upgrade station! I bet they used consoles like this one to send updated control files to the probes. This is exactly what I need!

Elder Lane opened the book he had been carrying and browsed through it. This manual out to have something in it. Let’s see. We’ve got upgrade procedures, troubleshooting, routing commands, neural splicing – ah, here we go, initializing communications. Lane placed the book on a nearby table and carefully typed a series of commands into the console. After a few minutes he leaned back and stared at the screen, scrutinizing it closely. Once he was satisfied that all of the parameters were correct he pressed the key to initialize communications.

The moment he pressed the button the machines around him came to life. Equipment powered up, generators began rumbling, and screens blinked on. A distant hum could be heard. On the console the screen said “Initializing communications – please wait…”

So he waited. A moment later a map of the galaxy appeared on the screen. A single blue dot appeared on the edge of the map, with a short, cryptic code beside it. Then another dot appeared, followed quickly by a dozen more. Elder Lane watched, fascinated, as contact was made with hundreds, then thousands of probes. Each minute that ticked by saw more probes added to the map.

Lane kept expecting the initialization message to disappear, but it didn’t. The list of probes continued to grow. In fact, it was more than thirty minutes later before the message finally disappeared. The councilman glanced in disbelief at the statistics in the upper-right-hand corner of the screen. Surely that can’t be right, he thought. I see a handful of Nehemiah I, II, and III probes left – less than a hundred altogether, and all very old. But there are more than twelve million Nehemiah IV probes in the galaxy! Is that even possible?

He soon discovered that the system was not in error. He could select any of the probes and get a detailed readout of what it was doing, where it had been, and where it planned to go next. They really have terraformed tens of millions of systems, Elder Lane realized. The Artilect was not lying; it has simply gained control of all of these worlds. No wonder it has become so strong! My swarms never had a chance against a force like this.

Lane sat back in his chair and stared at the screen. This was our doing, he realized, with a sense of horror. He watched as a probe completed its work on a star system and then contacted the Artilect, handing the system over. Our probes built the Artilect’s network! One of us must have built the Artilect long ago to manage these star systems, and now it has grown out of control. But not anymore – all of that ends today. It is time for mankind to pull the plug on this project.

Since the communications system offered a detailed readout on all the probes’ activities, it was not difficult for him to trace their communication signals and locate the home system of the Artilect. He was not surprised to find that it was located in a nameless star system more than a thousand light-years away. You were forgotten about, Lane realized. Someone built you and left you behind, and you’ve been running all this time. But now we know where you are and what you’ve been doing. I don’t know how to use this equipment to turn you off, but I can ask these probes to do the job for me.

Elder Lane worked far into the night. He ended up having to make several trips back downstairs in order to find the right manuals. Creating an upgrade package turned out to be fairly simple, but its simplicity only became obvious after browsing through four 500-page books. As the night wore on he felt tired and weak but he forced himself to continue. I’ve got to do this now, he thought frantically. The aliens could return at any moment and destroy us all! I don’t have time to spend weeks figuring this out. This must be done tonight. Tomorrow may be too late.

Even though writing the upgrade package turned out to be fairly simple, deploying the upgrade turned out to be complicated. Elder Lane realized that he would have to upgrade all of the probes at the same time. It’s just got to be done simultaneously. The moment these probes start upgrading the Artilect will know that something’s wrong, and if the probes are done in sequence then he might have a chance to interfere and stop the process. He wasn’t sure how much control the Artilect had over the probes but he didn’t want to take any chances.

In fact, the Artilect’s potential control over the Nehemiah probes concerned him greatly. As he pored over previous upgrades he found a block of code that granted access rights to the Artilect, and he stripped it out. No sense in doing an upgrade if the Artilect can just connect and undo it, he thought.

The other challenging task was trying to figure out what commands to send the probes. The Nehemiah probes were built to terraform worlds, not destroy them, and the programming language that was used to control them simply did not have a vocabulary for war. There were no commands for “destroy planet”, or “blow up star”, or anything of that nature. The probes were intelligent and could defend themselves from attack, but he could not order them to attack anything. In fact, the probes were even designed to avoid worlds that were inhabited or had been previously terraformed.

When the night was far spent and he was so tired that he could barely stay awake, he caught a glimpse of a command he hadn’t noticed before. “What’s this?” he whispered. He picked up the manual and took a closer look. Hmm. By default the probes are on auto-pilot, but you can give them instructions to terraform a specific planet. You can even tell them how you want it terraformed.

In a flash he knew what to do. Elder Lane pulled up the specifications on the planets in the Artilect’s home system. Look at that, he thought. None of these worlds have ever been terraformed! In fact, the database has then marked as ‘uninhabited’. That’s fabulous! You know, I think it’s time we began terraforming the Artilect’s star system. Let’s turn his star into a neutron star and change his planets into asteroid belts. I think that would be a much better use of that particular piece of real estate!

Lane smiled to himself. I’ll just send all of the probes to that one system, with the same orders. Since his access rights have been revoked the Artilect won’t be able to send them away. If he attacks them the probes will fight back, and he’ll be faced with an enemy of unparalleled strength. It’s brilliant!

Once the councilman knew what to do it took him only a matter of minutes to write the upgrade. Outside it was still dark. The sun was going to rise in about an hour, but Lane was unconcerned. In fact, he felt a sense of tremendous elation. His finger hovered over the key that would simultaneously dispatch his upgrade to the entire fleet of probes.

Sure, you were able to defeat the swarms. But what about now? For thousands of years these probes have served you, building your empire. What will you do when they turn on you? After all, these probes represent not just the best of our technology, but the best of yours as well. Can you fight off millions of them?

Elder Lane pressed the button. He watched the screen eagerly as the upgrade was sent to the probes. It took only seconds for it to be applied. He then watched with great satisfaction as the Nehemiah probes stopped what they were doing and plotted a new course.

Let the war begin, he thought grimly.

In the Old Testament there are a great many prophecies that speak about a coming Messiah who would save mankind from their sins. These prophecies (which date back to hundreds and, in some cases, thousands of years before Christ) foretell in great detail what the Messiah is going to be like and what He is going to do. The extent of these prophecies are quite astonishing and provide amazing evidence that Jesus really is the Messiah. It is not an easy thing to predict what is going to happen next week, let alone next year – but to predict things that will happen a thousand years from now, with extreme precision, goes far beyond a series of simple “lucky guesses”.

The fact is that Jesus really is the promised Messiah! He fulfilled all of the prophecies perfectly – including being executed and then raising back to life again.

This paper isn’t intended to be an exhaustive study of all messianic prophecies. Instead what I’d like to do is present a number of prophecies from the Old Testament that speak of the person and work of the Messiah. As you will see, God made it very clear what the Messiah was going to be like so that when He finally came we would be able to recognize Him for what He really is – and tell Him apart from all imposters.
 
 

I. His Person

 

1. He would be a descendant of Abraham

One of the first prophecies about the coming Messiah was that He would be a descendant of Abraham:

Gen. 22:15: “And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,
16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gates of his enemies;
18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.”

This prophecy is linked to Christ in Galatians:

Galatians 3:16: “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He said not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.”

One part of this that is easy to overlook is that verse 18 says that “in thy seed all the nations of the Earth” would be blessed. The word “seed” is actually singular and is referring to a single person. God was telling Abraham that he would have a descendent that would be a blessing to all nations. This descendent was the Messiah, who would go on to be a blessing to all nations by saving them from their sins through His death on the cross.
 

2. He would be from the Tribe of Judah

Besides being a descendant of Abraham the Messiah is also said to come from the tribe of Judah:

Gen. 49:10: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.”

This obviously means that the Messiah was going to be Jewish, and from a specific Jewish tribe. The word “Shiloh” is difficult to translate and literally means “whose right it is”. The Messiah, of course, is the one who has the right to rule. This verse could be rephrased to read:

“The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes whose right it is and unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be.”

This not only teaches that the Messiah would be of the tribe of Judah but also that He would be a King and that He would appear before Judah lost its tribal identity (as happened in 70 AD when the genealogical records were lost when the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed). This is because it is impossible for anyone to be born of the tribe of Judah if the tribe of Judah no longer exists!
 

3. He would be a son of David

Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would come out of the line of Jesse:

Isaiah 11:1-2: “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
2 And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord;”

Jeremiah further prophesied that He would come from the house of David:

Jeremiah 23:5: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

 

4. He would be both God and man

The Bible is clear that the Messiah would be both God and man. This can be found in a host of passages: Is. 7:14, Is. 9:6-7, Jer. 23:5-6, Micah 5:2, Zech. 12:10, Zech. 13:7, Psalm 80:17, and Psalm 110:1-7. For example:

Isaiah 9:6-7: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”

 

5. He will live eternally

The prophet Nathan told king David that the Messiah would not only come from one of David’s children but that His throne would last forever:

I Chron. 17:10: “And since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. Moreover I will subdue all thine enemies. Furthermore I tell thee that the Lord will build thee an house.
11 And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom.
12 He shall build me an house, and I will establish his throne forever.
13 I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee:
14 But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom forever: and his throne shall be established forevermore.”

This cannot be talking about Solomon because Solomon’s throne did not last forever. The throne of the Messiah, however, is an eternal one that will never fade away. He will rule for all of eternity.
 
 

II. His Nature

 

1. He would be full of the Holy Spirit

Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would be full of the Holy Spirit:

Isaiah 42:1: “Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
2 He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
3 A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.”

It’s worth noting that this passage is quoted in Matthew 12:15-21 and is applied to Jesus.
 

2. He would be humble (Zech. 9:9-10)

Zechariah prophesied that the Messiah would be humble:

Zechariah 9:9: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.”

This passage is quoted and applied to Jesus in Matthew 21:4-5.
 

3. He would be gentle (Is. 42:1-4)

As can be seen in Isaiah 42:1-4 (quoted above), the Messiah is both full of the Holy Spirit and gentle.
 

4. He would be the son of God

The Old Testament was clear that the Messiah would be not just the son of man, but the Son of God as well:

Psalm 2:7: “I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him.”

This passage is quoted and applied to Jesus in Acts 13:33.
 

5. He would be the Good Shepherd

This can be seen in a number of places, one of which is in Zechariah:

Zechariah 13:7: “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.”

This passage is quoted and applied to Jesus in Matthew 26:31.
 
 

III. His Appearing

 

1. His would be a virgin birth

This can be seen in the famous passage in Isaiah:

Isaiah 7:14: “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

There are some people who claim that the word “virgin” in this verse doesn’t actually mean virgin. That is incorrect. In fact, the Hebrew word used here is the only one available that even could mean virgin; none of the other words that Isaiah could have used have that possible meaning. There simply is no Hebrew word that only means virgin and Isaiah used the best one available.

However, the Bible makes it very clear that this was a virgin birth in two ways: first, when this verse is quoted in Matthew 1:23 the Greek word used to translate Isaiah 7:14 explicitly means virgin. Second, in verse 14 we can see that this is intended to be a sign. There is nothing miraculous about a young woman giving birth to a child; that happens all the time. This verse only becomes miraculous if a virgin was to conceive and bear a son.
 

2. He would be preceded by a herald

The Bible teaches that before the Messiah came someone else would come to let the world know that the Messiah was about to appear. This was prophesied by Isaiah:

Isaiah 40:3: “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”

Malachi also mentions this:

Malachi 3:1: “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.”

These verses are applied to John the Baptist in John 1:23.
 

3. He would be born in Bethlehem, the city of David

This can be seen in Micah:

Micah 5:2: “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from old, from everlasting.”

This passage is quoted in Matthew 2:5-6. The reason the passage mentions Bethlehem-Ephratah is because there were two Bethlehems in Israel and God was specifying which one the Messiah was to come from.
 

4. He would be seen riding on a donkey

This can be seen in the book of Zechariah:

Zech. 9:9: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”

 

5. He would appear before 70 AD

The Old Testament was very specific that the Messiah was going to be of the tribe of Judah and the lineage of David. However, the genealogical records were stored in the Temple in Jerusalem and they were all destroyed when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD. At that point the identity of the tribes were lost, making it impossible for there to be a tribe of Judah. The Messiah, therefore, must come before that point because it was impossible to come afterward.

The book of Daniel also prophesies the exact time the Lord would appear, but those calculations are complex and outside the scope of this paper.

(See: Is. 7:14, Is. 8:9-10, Is. 9:6-7, Zech. 11:1-17, I Chron. 17:10-14, Daniel 9:24-27.)
 
 

IV. His Offices

 

1. He would be a king

This can be seen in many passages:

Gen. 49:10: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.”

Numbers 24:17: “I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth. …
19 Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city.”

Isaiah 9:7: “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”

I Chronicles 17:14: “But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom forever: and his throne shall be established forevermore.”

See also Psalm 2:7-12, Psalm 110:1-7.
 

2. He would be a priest

It was also prophesied that the Messiah would be a priest. This can be found in Psalms:

Psalm 110:4: “The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”

Melchizedek appears in Genesis 14:17-24. His priesthood, and its relevance to Christ, is discussed in Hebrews 5, 6, and 7.
 

3. He would be a prophet

The third office of the Messiah was that of a prophet:

Deut. 18:15: The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken …
18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.”

 
 

V. His Mission and Ministry

 

1. He would be specially trained

In one of the “Servant Songs” of Isaiah, the Bible hints that the Messiah was specially trained by God for His mission:

Isaiah 50:4: “The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.”

 

2. He would bring salvation to the Gentile nations

This can be found in Isaiah:

Isaiah 42:1: “Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. …
6: I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;”

Isaiah 49:6: “And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.”

 

3. He would be rejected at first

This can be seen in many passages: Is. 49:1-13, Is. 52:13-53:12, Zech. 11:1-17, Zech. 12:10, Psalm 22, Psalm 110:1-7. I will only quote from Isaiah here:

Isaiah 53:3: “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”

 

4. He would appear to fail but in fact be successful

The Old Testament was clear that although the Messiah would be rejected and would suffer greatly (as was seen in point #3), He would not fail in His mission:

Isaiah 42:4: “He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.”

 

5. He would be sold for 30 pieces of silver

This was prophesied by Zechariah:

Zechariah 11:12: “And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.
13 And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord.”

Matthew records that Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14-16) and that the silver was used to purchase the potter’s field (Matthew 27:3-10). It should be noted that the Lord was being sarcastic when he called the amount a “goodly price”; Exodus 21:32 records that 30 pieces of silver was the amount required to repay for a dead slave. That was the “goodly price” that was put on the Son of God.
 

6. His rejection would result in an attack upon Israel and the scattering of the people

This can be found in the book of Zechariah:

Zechariah 13:7: “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.
8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.
9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.”

Jesus applied this prophecy to Himself in Matthew 26:31. It is worth noting that in 70 AD the Roman army decimated the land of Israel, destroyed Jerusalem and the temple, and reportedly slaughtered more than a million people. Jesus had warned in Matthew 23:35-6 that the generation alive at that time would face severe judgment. Since they rejected their Messiah their house was left desolate (Matthew 23:38).

In Luke 21:20-24 Jesus warned His followers to flee from Jerusalem when they saw it being besieged by armies. In 66 AD the Romans came and besieged the city. When they temporarily eased the siege later that year the entire Christian community in Jerusalem abandoned the city and left. In 68 AD the Romans besieged it again, and in 70 AD they leveled the city and the Temple. No stone of the temple was left on top of the other. The reason for this was because when the Temple burned down the gold that used to cover the walls melted and ran down into the cracks, so the Romans were forced to tear it apart stone by stone to recover the gold.
 

7. He would eventually be accepted

This can be seen in Isaiah 49 (which I will not quote in its entirety). The theme of that chapter is that Israel has not been forgotten; the day will come when it will be restored.
 

8. He would be seated at the right hand of God

This can be seen in Psalm 110:

Psalm 110:1: “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.”

This passage is quoted by Jesus in Matthew 22:41-45.
 
 

VI. His Suffering and Death

 

1. He would suffer

This can be seen in a number of different passages. Both Psalm 22 and Isaiah 52-3 go into great detail about the Messiah’s sufferings. A few of these verses are:

Psalm 22:1: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
…
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.”

Isaiah 52:13: “Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
14 As many were astonished at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:
…
53:5: But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

 

2. He would be legally tried and condemned to death

Isaiah speaks of this:

Isaiah 53:7: “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he striken.”

Notice it says that he was “taken from prison and from judgment”, which implies a trial and imprisonment. It also says that he was “cut off out of the land of the living”, which speaks of the Messiah’s execution. The passage also says that “he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth” – speaking of the way the Messiah would conduct Himself at the trial.
 

3. He would die

This can be seen in Isaiah 53:8 (above), where it speaks of the Messiah being cut off “out of the land of the living”. This is also spoken of in the Psalms:

Psalm 16:9: “Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.
10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”

The word “hell” here is Sheol, which simply refers to the grave or the resting place of the dead. If the Messiah’s soul is in the grave then the Messiah is obviously dead – and as we saw in Isaiah, the reason the Messiah was dead was because He was executed. At the same time, verse 10 says that the Messiah would not stay in the grave for long – in fact, He would not even be in the grave long enough for His body to start decaying.
 

4. He would die a violent death by means of piercing

This can be seen in Zechariah:

Zechariah 12:10: “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.”

 

5. His death would be substitutionary

This can be seen in Isaiah 53:5:

Isaiah 53:5: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

Notice how the verse talks about the way the Messiah would be wounded and beaten for our sins. He was not punished for what He did but for what we had done.
 

6. His death would result in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple

This is mentioned in Daniel:

Daniel 9:26: “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.”

As we can see, after the Messiah is “cut off” (or executed, but “not for himself” – His death was substitutionary, as we’ve just discussed) the city and the sanctuary would both be destroyed. In this context, the city was Jerusalem and the sanctuary was the Temple that once stood there. Both of these would be destroyed after the Messiah was executed.
 

7. He would be buried in a rich man’s tomb

Isaiah speaks of this:

Isaiah 53:9: “And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.”

 

8. He would be resurrected

This is hinted at in a number of passages but it can be most clearly seen in Psalm 16:10:

Psalm 16:10: “ For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”

As we’ve pointed out before, the word translated “hell” is actually Sheol, which simply speaks of the resting place of the dead. If the Messiah’s soul is not going to be left in the grave then it means that He will be raised back to life – and if His body does not see corruption then it means that He won’t be in the grave long enough for His body to start decaying.
 

9. He would bring justification to those who believe in Him

This can be seen in Isaiah 53:

Isaiah 53:11: “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

A winding road that snakes through a barren land.

The Stryker family was enjoying a late dinner in their spacious home on Tonina. Laura, Richard, and Amanda Stryker were seated in an enormous dining rooms. A large fireplace occupied most of the far wall, and the rest of the walls were covered in elegant tapestries that depicted nature scenes from distant corners of the planet. Spread out on the mahogany table before them was a veritable feast. At Amanda’s request Laura had cooked turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans, and wheat rolls – not to mention the other vegetables and desserts that filled the table.

“This is an amazing dinner!” Richard commented, as he helped himself to another slice of turkey. “I haven’t seen a meal like this since we left Mars. You’ve really outdone yourself, dear!”

“Well, it is Thanksgiving,” his wife replied. “I think we have a lot to be thankful for this year.”

“It is?” Richard asked. “But today’s Friday, isn’t it? Isn’t Thanksgiving always on a Thursday?”

“We are one day late,” Amanda admitted. “In 7239 Thanksgiving actually falls on November 24th, not the 25th. But since we were kind of busy yesterday I thought it would be ok to celebrate it now.”

“I don’t think anyone will mind,” Richard agreed, smiling. “And we do have a lot to be thankful for. We all made it to the future safe and sound, and the Artilect’s war against the swarms was successful. The people of Tau Ceti have been freed from a menace that has imprisoned them for thousands of years. The future looks very bright for all of us.”

“I just wish Amy was here,” Laura replied. “I know she can’t use telepresence to share this meal with us, but I still miss her. It’s not the same, celebrating Thanksgiving without her.”

“I know,” Richard agreed. “I miss her too. I did invite her but she’s still bitter about being kept away. I think her mood will improve once she’s allowed to return home to Tonina.”

“When will that be?” Amanda asked.

“Just a few more days,” Richard replied. “We just need to make sure that the swarms are really gone. If nothing happens over the weekend then I think it would be safe to allow her to return on Monday.”

“I guess that’s not too long,” Amanda conceded. “But I have a feeling it will seem like an eternity to Amy.”

Richard sighed. “I just don’t understand why this upsets her so much! She’s been more than welcome to use telepresence to be with us here. I realize she can’t be here in person, but is there really that much difference?”

“I think there is to her, dear,” Laura replied.

There was silence for a few moments, then Amanda spoke up. “So what happens after Amy gets back? Are we going to start moving people from Xanthe to Tonina?”

“I guess that will be up to them,” Richard replied. “It sounds like you did an admirable job of restoring their home world. They may want to stay there. It is their home, after all.”

“But what about Tonina?” Amy asked. “What about all these other worlds? Are they just going to stay empty?”

“Oh, there’s plenty of time for that,” her father said. “These planets aren’t going to go anywhere. As Tau Ceti rebuilds they will eventually come to the point where they’ll have enough people to begin settling in other places as well. These stars will be here when they need them.”

“But are we sure their population is going to grow?” Laura asked. “Aren’t they too old to have children?”

“I’m sure the Artilect could do something about that,” Richard said. “There must be some way he could help them.”

“But they’re so old!” Laura replied. “They’ve been alone in their pods for such a long time. It’s going to be so hard for them.”

“I know,” Richard agreed. “I know. It is going to be hard, but the future of mankind depends on it. All we can do is offer whatever help we can.”

“What if they don’t want our help?” Amanda asked.

“Then I don’t know what we’ll do,” Richard replied. “But I’m sure that something good is going to come out of all this. I can’t imagine that God brought us all the way to the future just so we could watch mankind die. There’s got to be a reason for all of this. No, I think everything will work out, one way or another. We’ll just wait until Monday and take it from there.”

* * * * *
 

Captain Max found Jones sitting on a park bench in the heart of La Venta. Twelve square blocks of the sprawling city had been set aside as a recreational area, with trees, a pond, benches, swings, and a large play area for children. The area had been designed to offer a pleasant place of relaxation. Since the metropolis had no citizens, however, it remained empty. Jones was the only one that visited the park. He would often come there in the evenings and watch the sun set over the horizon.

The captain sat down beside him. “You missed dinner,” he said.

Jones nodded. “The Strykers celebrated Thanksgiving this evening.”

“I didn’t know that,” the captain remarked. “We should have joined them! I bet Laura fixed a first-class dinner. She’s good at that, you know. Always fixes it by hand, too – even now. I never really understood that. She doesn’t have to work so hard at it, but she does.”

“It gives what she does meaning,” Jones replied. “If you work hard for something then you tend to value it more. There is nothing special about making a dinner appear from nowhere by snapping your fingers. But making one by hand, putting time and love and care into it, is different. That gives the gift a meaning that it otherwise would not have had.”

“But it’s not necessary,” Captain Max objected.

Jones smiled. “For that matter, sir, what is necessary? Now that the swarms are gone, have you found anything meaningful to do with your time?”

“Well, you know, I’m still trying to get used to this place. I’m sure that something is necessary! As I see it, the problem is that we’ve been dumped into the future without growing into it. We just don’t know how to use the tools that we’ve been given.”

“Life is about overcoming challenges,” Jones said. “If there are no challenges or obstacles to overcome then there can be no growth. That is the real question: where do we go from here?”

“You worry too much,” Captain Max commented. “I’m sure things will change after the survivors move here. That in itself is going to be filled with challenges.”

Jones looked off into the distance. The sun had set, and the stars were coming out. Off in the distance he could hear a bird softly coo. Despite the fact that he was in the heart of an enormous city, the only sounds he could hear were those of wildlife.

“It’s eerie, isn’t it?” Jones asked. “La Venta is a huge city, and yet it’s so quiet and still.”

“It’s too quiet, if you ask me. That’s why I don’t come here. It feels like something terrible happened and everyone died.”

“That’s because something terrible did happen and everyone did die. If the swarms had not killed everyone then there might be people here right now. In fact, had that happened it may not have been necessary to bring us into the future at all.”

“But the survivors are left,” Captain Max pointed out. “They’ll be here soon. Then this place will start to hum with life.”

Jones shook his head. “They will never come here. This is no life for them, sir. In fact, I’m not convinced this is a good life for anyone. There may come a day when mankind will be mature enough to handle this level of wealth and ease, but I do not believe that time is here yet. Our hearts are too corrupt to handle this much power.”

“You’re in a cheerful mood tonight,” Captain Max remarked. “In fact, all you’ve had to say for the past week has been negative! Don’t you have any good thoughts to share?”

“I’m sorry, sir,” Jones replied. “You’re quite right. But there is a time to mourn and a time to dance. I just don’t think we’ve gotten to the dancing part yet.”

“But the swarms are gone! Why, if that’s not something to dance about then I don’t know what is.”

Jones shook his head. “The people of Xanthe have made their choices, sir, and we can’t save them from them. We were brought here to give them one last chance and we’ve done that. The rest is up to Amy.”

“What do you mean?”

“The time of our departure is at hand,” Jones said quietly. “We’ve fought the good fight, and it’s very nearly time for us to go. Our part in this is done.”

“That’s not possible! I know you have the gift of foresight, but you’ve got to realize that we don’t even have an opponent anymore. Even if we did there’s no way the Artilect could lose. Nothing in this galaxy can begin to compare with him.”

Jones rose to his feet. “Believe what you want, sir, but remember what that girl told you back in Tikal. We can’t save the survivors from their choices, but our efforts are not in vain. The Lord has prepared a better country for us that lies beyond the farthest star. Our journey there has been delayed but that delay will not last forever.”

“I know,” Captain Max said. “We all should have died back in 1867. I know we’ve been given more time. But you have to understand, I’m in no hurry to die.”

“That’s not on the table, sir,” Jones replied. “After all, Jesus Himself said that ‘whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die’. He holds the keys of hell and death, and He has given everlasting life to all who believe on Him. What lies in our future is a call from our Lord to go to the home that we were created for but have never seen. It’s not a bad thing, sir; I think you’ll like it.”

Captain Max sighed. “And when is all this supposed to happen?”

“I’m not sure,” Jones replied.

Whenever Christmas rolls around it is traditional for churches to sing “Joy to the World”. It’s a very well-known song, and many people know its first verse by heart:

Joy to the World , the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

At first glance this does look very much like a traditional Christmas carol. One could imagine that “Joy to the World” is talking about the angels’ proclamation to the shepherds of “peace on earth, good will toward men”, and that “the Lord is come” is a reference to Christ’s birth in Bethlehem. However, if you take a look at the next few verses it becomes obvious that this song is actually talking about Christ’s second coming, not His first:

Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Do you see what I mean? Think about it: do those verses better describe the Lord’s birth or His return? For example, look at verse 3. It triumphantly declares that the Lord has come to put an end to sins, sorrows, and “the curse”. This is a reference to the time the Lord cursed the ground after mankind sinned in the Garden of Eden:

Genesis 3:17: “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;”

Did Jesus remove the curse at His first coming? No. Did He put an end to sin and sorrow? No. His first coming was about providing mercy, forgiveness, and salvation – not about revoking the curse and ending all suffering. It isn’t until after His Second Coming that He will put an end to war, sorrow, and sin, and will finally repeal the curse. Verse 3 is a great description of the Lord’s return. It joyously declares things that the Lord will do in the future, but things the Lord has definitely not done yet and did not do at His birth.

Or consider verse 2. It declares “Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!”, and verse 4 talks of Jesus ruling the world “with truth and grace”. In Jesus’ first coming He did not do any reigning at all; in fact, the Bible says that He was a poor man with no place to lay His head. He was persecuted, tortured, and executed, after which He rose from the dead and ascended to Heaven. But this song speaks of a time when the Lord will come to Earth and reign over it. The Bible says that this will happen – but it will not take until after the Second Coming:

Revelation 20:4: “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”

I realize that “Joy to the World” is a popular Christmas song, but I cannot escape the idea that this song is actually talking about the Second Coming. It provides a beautiful picture of things the Lord will do after He returns. If you’ll notice, the song doesn’t even mention anything the Lord did in His first appearance! There is no mention of the cross, or forgiveness of sins, or even the resurrection. Instead the song exclusively focuses on things that are yet to come.

This is why I don’t believe that this song was intended to be a Christmas song. I think it’s actually meant to celebrate the Lord’s return. It makes a great deal more sense when you look at it from that perspective.

“What is it this time?” Van Toby asked irritably. “These conferences you keep dragging us into are quite irritating, Lane. Must you keep bothering us with your petty concerns?”

Elder Lane, Van Toby, and Horace Grant were once again standing in a synthetic conference area that occupied no particular place or time. As before, the room consisted of only a floor. There were no walls or ceiling; instead blackness extended in all directions. The area gave off the impression of being trapped at the bottom of a deep pit. The sense of isolation was acute.

Lane had been waiting in the room for three hours. The moment he returned to his synthetic world Lane had contacted the other two members of the ruling council and requested that they meet. Even though he had stressed the urgency of the situation his companions had not felt the need to respond. It was only when he sent a message threatening to pull the plug on their pods that they finally agreed to come.

“You’re all fools!” Lane shouted. “Morons! Have you been in here so long that you’ve forgotten about the physical world? Don’t you realize that if these aliens come along and shut us down it’s all over for us?”

“You worry too much,” Grant commented.

“The physical world is unimportant,” Van Toby added. “It provides no value. I really don’t see why you are so preoccupied with it.”

“Unimportant?” Lane asked incredulously. “Are you serious? If I took a sledgehammer to your pod you’d see how ‘unimportant’ the physical world actually was. You’d be surprised at how frightening life is when you’re struck in the physical world and can’t escape it. Our lives are hanging by a very slim thread. If we don’t do something right now then we’re all dead.”

“But that’s what the swarms are for,” Van Toby replied. “They will protect us, as they always have. It is their function.”

Lane shook his head. “The swarms are gone – all of them. The Artilect wiped them out without even trying. It’s over.”

Van Toby looked surprised. “Surely you must be joking! No one can defeat the swarms; they are simply too powerful. All of the other colonies were defenseless against them.”

“That was five thousand years ago,” Lane replied. “Our scientific abilities haven’t advanced a single bit in all that time. Meanwhile, the Artilect has spent millennia amassing an unthinkable amount of technology. It has the same power over the real world that we have over our synthetic worlds.”

“That’s nonsense!” Van Toby laughed. “You’re buying into the hype again, Lane.”

“You need to learn to think critically,” Grant added.

“It’s not hype!” Lane screamed. “I just saw it with my own eyes! I watched a little girl wave her hands and bring this entire planet back from the dead. She terraformed all of Xanthe in a matter of minutes, putting it all back the way it was before we entered our pods, and rebuild Star City for good measure. And she didn’t even strain herself!”

“You can’t be serious!” Van Toby scoffed. “That’s just not possible.”

“Go look for yourself,” Lane snapped. “After all, the two of you are so fond of ‘independent research’! Just go up to the surface and take a look at what the Artilect has done to our world. You can’t miss it.”

The other two council members looked at each other uncertainly. “But that’s just not possible,” Van Toby said at last. “No one could possibly have that much power. You must be mistaken.”

“Have you forgotten everything?” Lane asked. “Don’t you remember why we built the swarms in the first place? We were afraid that if everyone didn’t abandon the physical world, that those who chose to remain behind would ultimately advance far beyond us. The swarms were a preemptive attack to keep our neighbors from growing.”

“Quite so,” Van Toby replied. “Since we weren’t going to be doing science anymore it was our only option. Had we not done that we would have risked being left behind.”

“And that is exactly what happened! Somehow the Artilect survived, and from what I’ve been told he’s had five thousand years to advance beyond us. I don’t know how long it took him to become the master of the physical world, but he’s certainly accomplished that. Now he threatens our entire way of life.”

“Well then we must fight him,” Grant replied. “If we can eliminate him the entire problem will go away.”

Lane laughed. “Of course! Just fight him. Why didn’t I think of that? Oh, wait, I know why. Maybe it’s because in the physical world we are decrepit old men, while the aliens we’re fighting can create entire cities with a wave of their hand! They could kill us all without even setting foot on Xanthe, and the only weapons we have to throw at them are rocks.”

“But what about our armada of probes?” Grant asked. “I’m sure they still exist. In fact, they must be a formidable force by now.”

“The swarms are gone, remember?” Lane asked irritably. “They’re not coming back. Even if I recreated them it would be a pointless effort.”

Grant shook his head. “No, not the swarms, the probes. What were they called?” He thought a moment, then sighed. “I don’t remember their name. They were launched long ago and given the task of terraforming planets. The probes were self-replicating, so I’m sure there are a lot of them. And they had tremendous power! In fact, I think the last version of them had the ability to alter the chemistry of stars.”

“Oh yes – the Nehemiah probes,” Van Toby replied. “I’d forgotten about them.”

“That was a very long time ago,” Lane commented. “I suppose that they might still be out there, but they’d be very old. It’s hard to believe that any of them would be left.”

“But they’re replicating probes,” Grant pointed out. “They have been making copies of themselves for thousands upon thousands of years! Imagine how many of them there must be by now. And if they can alter the chemistry of a star then they’re quite powerful – far more powerful than the swarms.”

“I suppose it would be worth a try,” Lane replied. “I certainly don’t see any other alternatives! But how would we use them? The swarms were under our control, but the probes are not. Weren’t they designed to be independent?”

“The key is that they were designed here,” Grant pointed out. “In Star City. Now that Star City has been rebuilt it should be possible to find the notes that were used to construct them. There must be a way to contact them and there must be a way to alter their programming. I’m sure it’s all there.”

“But the city is huge!” Lane gasped. “How would I ever find the information I needed?”

Van Toby shrugged. “Send a robot to do it – or send all of them, for that matter. I’m sure they could scour the city and find what you’re looking for. You might try starting the search in whatever building used to house the headquarters of the Diano Corporation.”

“All right,” Lane said reluctantly. “I will attempt it. But what if this fails? After all, if the Artilect controls millions of stars–”

“You don’t have to attack millions of stars,” Van Toby said. “All you have to do is destroy the Artilect. It sounds like he’s the source of their power. After he’s gone the rest of the aliens will be defenseless and you can use the swarms to obliterate them.”

“It’s quite simple, really,” Grant replied.

Lane sighed. “I hope so,” he said. “I really do. If this fails – or if they find out we are behind this – then things are going to get very ugly very fast. We’re either going to win everything or lose everything.”

“Then let’s hope we win,” Grant said.

When Christmas starts to draw near it is common for people to erect Nativity scenes. These can be seen everywhere – in churches, in people’s yards, in malls and stores, and on Christmas cards. A common feature of a Nativity scene is the presence of three Oriental kings that are standing next to a manger, accompanied by a host of shepherds and animals. However, how much of this picture is actually real? Were there really three wise men and did they actually visit the manger on the night Christ was born?

One interesting fact is that only Matthew mentions the wise men. The books of Mark and John do not mention the birth of Christ at all. Luke has a detailed account of Christ’s birth but does not mention anything about a visit by wise men. Luke mentions the angelic announcement and the visit by shepherds, but no wise men make an appearance that night.

The only account of the wise men is found in Matthew chapter 2. Since this is a fairly lengthy passage I’ll break up the chapter with occasional bits of explanation.

Matthew 2:1: “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.”

Here we see that the wise men came “from the east” (verse 1). However, these wise men didn’t go to Bethlehem but to Jerusalem. Right away we can see that it’s highly unlikely that they made it to the manger on the night Jesus was born. In order for that to have happened they would have had to travel from the east to Jerusalem, meet with Herod, get directions, and then travel to Bethlehem – all in the space of a few hours and without the benefit of modern transportation! That doesn’t seem very likely (and it will become more unlikely when we read the rest of the chapter).

A few other important points: note that the chapter doesn’t mention how many wise men there were. There could have been two, or three, or even nine; we’re just not told. Also notice that the passage does not give their names or their origin. All we know is that they were “from the east” and were motivated by the appearance of a star. The star told them that the King of the Jews had been born and they had come to worship him.

The story continues:

Matthew 2:3: “When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea: for thus it is written by the prophet,
6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.”

This is actually a surprising passage: even though the Messiah had been born the news of this had not reached Herod or the religious leaders of the day! Apparently they did not hear the announcement made by the angels – or if they did they ignored it. The Messiah had been born and the chief priests missed it completely. They had to be brought up-to-date by Gentiles from a distant country!

Another amazing thing is that Herod knew exactly what question to ask. He knew that the wise men were seeking the Messiah and he wanted to know where the Messiah was supposed to be born. The priests told him about Micah 5:2, which prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. What happens next is astonishing:

Matthew 2:7: “Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.”

Herod wanted to know when the wise men had first seen the star – which implies that quite a bit of time had elapsed. (Later on we’ll be given a hint as to just how much time had passed.) After finding out this key bit of knowledge he sent the wise men to Bethlehem and told them to find the Messiah and then let him know where he was.

What surprises me about this is what didn’t happen. Notice that the chief priests and scribes did not say “The Messiah has been born! This is amazing news! We must go find him at once!” The wise men went to Bethlehem alone – no priests or scribes went with him. As far as I can tell the religious leaders of Israel were completely uninterested that the Messiah had been born. We know that the whole city knew what was going on because verse 3 tells us that all of Jerusalem was “troubled” by the news. Even that is quite astonishing: the people were not happy, or excited, or in awe: no, they were “troubled”. The news that the long-awaited Messiah had been born troubled them.

The Messiah had been born, and not only did the priests miss it, but after finding out that they had missed it they had no interest in tracking Him down.

The story continues:

Matthew 2:9: “When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshiped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.”

After the wise men left Herod they once again saw the famous star, which they followed straight to Jesus. They then worshiped Him, gave their gifts, and departed. However, God warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod so they slipped out of the country and returned home. (As a side-note, notice that the passage does not say that the wise men found the child in Bethlehem. We’re actually not told where Jesus was living when he was visited by the wise men.)

Some would argue that since three gifts were given there must have been three wise men. However, the passage does not actually say this. It’s entirely possible that an unknown number of wise men pooled their resources, obtain gifts, and presented them jointly. For all we know all of the wise men could have given gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The passage just does not say.

What amazes me is the striking contrast between the wise men and the religious leaders. The wise men – which were clearly foreigners from a distant country – not only recognized the birth of Christ but traveled from a distant land so they could worship him and bring him gifts. By contrast, the chief priests not only missed the birth of Christ but they couldn’t even be bothered to go see Him! On top of that, the gifts brought by the wise men showed tremendous insight into the person and work of Christ: they brought gold, which is a gift for a king; frankincense, which is an offering for a God; and myrrh, which quite possibly looked toward the Messiah’s crucifixion and death. The wise men were looking for the Messiah, they loved Him, they worshiped Him as King, and they seemed to know why He came.

Herod and the chief priests had a very different action: they wanted to kill the Messiah.

Matthew 2:16: “Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.”

Since the wise men didn’t tell Herod where Jesus was Herod decided to simply kill everyone in the area that was two years old or younger. Since this was “according to the time” that the wise men had told him, that implies that the star had first appeared about two years earlier. If it took the wise men two years to get to Israel then they were clearly not present the night of Christ’s birth!

Now, it’s true that the chief priests aren’t mentioned in verse 16. Herod apparently acted alone in attempting to kill the Messiah. However, we also don’t see the chief priests intervening to attempt to save the Messiah’s life – and, ultimately, they did succeed in having Him crucified. There is no indication that they were upset at Herod’s attempt to murder their long-awaited Messiah.

In summary, we can see from these verses that the Bible simply does not say how many wise men there were, or where they were from, or what their names were. We can also see that the wise men were not present the night of Christ’s birth but instead came by several years later. Finally – and most importantly – we can see that the wise men noticed the birth of the Messiah and came to worship Him, while the religious leaders of the day missed it entirely.

It took only a few moments for the Sentinel to transport Amanda Stryker to the ruined planet Xanthe. Instead of taking her straight to the Vault, however, he instead brought her to the top of a small hill that overlooked what was left of Star City. The hill offered a commanding view of the entire area. As far as the eye could see there was nothing but dust, rocks, and barren land. Overhead was a pale sky that was empty of clouds. The ground was parched and all signs of water were long gone. The city itself was nothing more than a crumbling ruin that was slowly being engulfed by the surrounding wasteland.

Amanda stared at the ruined city in horror. “What have they done to this place?”

“They abandoned it,” the Sentinel replied. “They left it empty, and time took care of the rest.”

Amanda said nothing for a long time. She simply stared at the city, taking it in. “I remember what it used to look like,” she said at last. “In fact, I was there quite recently. I never imagined that one day it would look like that. It’s a strange feeling.”

“That is what time does,” the Sentinel replied. “It turns greatness into ruin. In the beginning the Lord God cursed the ground for the sin of Adam, and that curse is still in effect. One day it will be removed and death will no longer reign over all of us. But that day has not yet come.”

Amanda nodded. “I know. But that’s not what I mean. This makes me feel old, Steve. I mean, it took thousands of years for Star City to turn into that ruin down there. You can see the tremendous amount of time that’s passed. And yet, I was there when the city was still young. I’m old, Steve – really old. Older than you, even.”

The Sentinel nodded. “You and your friends are all that’s left of a civilization that disappeared long ago. In fact, the people in the Vault below are distant relatives that were not born until many centuries after you were. Even for them you are ancient history – a distant memory out of a long-forgotten past.”

“And to think I’m not even fifteen yet,” Amanda said. “You know, I really don’t care much for time travel, Steve. This just isn’t right.”

“I’m sorry,” the Sentinel replied. “I know. But it had to be done.”

Amanda closed her eyes and spread her arms. Although nothing appeared to happen, the Sentinel could sense that she was dispersing billions of nanites into the planet’s atmosphere.

“Are you going to terraform the planet right now?” he asked in surprised.

Amanda opened her eyes and lowered her arms. “Oh, no. Not yet. I just wanted to get the nanites into position. It’s going to take them a few minutes to saturate the air and the ground. I figured I’d go ahead and have them start replicating while we go wake up the pod people.”

The Sentinel nodded. “Are you ready to go down below?”

“I think so,” Amanda replied.

A moment later the two of them appeared in one of the giant chambers of Vault 37. Amanda gasped at its size. “This place is huge! I had no idea it was so large.”

“There are a hundred thousand pods in here,” the Sentinel explained. “The vast majority of them contain living beings. Only a few have gone dark.”

“So what do we do now? Do you know which one belongs to Adrian?”

“Hello?” a weak voice said in the distance. Amanda looked around and saw an elderly man slowly rise to his feet. The man started shuffling down the long aisles in the distance. “I am so sorry – I believe I fell asleep. I’m not used to being outside my pod, you know.”

Amanda and the Sentinel walked toward him. When they reached him Amanda held out her hand. “I hope we haven’t disturbed you,” she said.

Adrian shook her hand and looked at her in surprise. “I don’t believe we’ve met, miss. My name is Adrian Garza. I know who your friend is but I’m afraid I don’t know your name.”

Amanda smiled. “My name is Amanda Stryker. I’m pleased to meet you.”

“I haven’t met a young person in a very long time,” Adrian commented. “In fact, I didn’t know there were any young people left. Are you related to the other man that I met on Tonina?”

Amanda shook her head. “No, he’s just a friend.”

Adrian nodded. “I understand. So how can I be of service? Do you bring us news?”

“The battle is over,” the Sentinel said. “The swarms have been destroyed and the endless war has come to an end. Your world is no longer in any danger.”

“It is over already?” Adrian said in surprise. “I thought it would take days, perhaps even weeks! How much damage was done to the swarms?”

“They were completely eradicated,” the Sentinel replied. “Not a single bot was left.”

“So you were successful, then,” Adrian said.

“You don’t seem very excited about it,” Amanda commented.

“I just find it difficult to believe,” Adrian explained. “It only takes a single bot to recreate all of the swarms. I don’t mean to doubt you, miss; it’s just that we’ve lived with the swarms for a very long time, and it’s hard to grasp that they’re really gone. I believe our leader will want to hear of this.”

“Can you take us to him?” Amanda asked.

“I can,” Adrian replied. “In fact, he’s right over here.”

The ancient man slowly shuffled down the long aisles of pods until he came to the one that contained Elder Lane. Adrian went over to the console and pushed the button that would unseal the pod. A few moments later the leader of Vault 37 was sitting up in his pod, blinking his eyes. He stared at Amanda with a look of surprise and terror. “A child! A real child! Who are you, and where did you come from?”

“I’m not a child,” Amanda replied sharply. “I’m a teenager! There’s a big difference. I’m fourteen years old, you know. I’m not just a kid.”

“Fourteen?” Lane gasped. “But – that’s impossible! There are no children left. The last ones grew up millennia ago.”

“Well, I’m here,” Amanda said.

“Are you one of those aliens from deep space?” Lane asked, as he climbed out of his pod.

“I’m not an alien,” Amanda protested. “I’m just as human as you are! In fact, I was born on Mars.”

“Mars?” Lane asked, incredulously. “Do you mean you’re from Sol? But that system has been locked for centuries! Is that were you people are from?”

Amanda sighed. “My family and I escaped Sol before the Wall was erected. It was a long time ago.”

“But you’re just fourteen!” Lane exclaimed. “By the time I was born the Wall was already five hundred years old. How–”

“Time travel,” Amanda said. “It’s pretty simple, really.”

Lane’s eyes suddenly opened wide. “Oh. Of course! That would certainly explain why you people suddenly appeared from nowhere. But–”

Adrian interrupted. “They bring news of the war, sir. The battle is over and the swarms have been destroyed.”

“That is correct,” the Sentinel replied. “The swarms have been completely eradicated. They will never trouble you again.”

Lane turned pale. “But – you can’t be serious! I find this very difficult to believe. Are you quite sure?”

“Oh yes,” Amanda said. “They’re gone all right. They won’t be back.”

Elder Lane was silent for a few moments. “So what happens now?” he asked.

Amanda smiled. “Now it’s time to give you back the future that was stolen from you. We can help you leave your pods and rebuilding your civilization again. I’m sure Adrian has told you all about the wonders of Tonina. You are more than welcome to join us – we will gladly share our network with you. You don’t have to hide from the swarms anymore.”

“I see,” Elder Lane said. There must be some way I can stall, he thought furiously. I have to buy us some time so I can come up with another plan. But what can I say? She must not be the one who has the gift of discernment; otherwise it would have been over by now. How can I turn this to my advantage?

“Is something wrong?” Amanda asked.

“Sorry,” Elder Lane apologized. “I’m just a little confused. I know so little about you! Who is the leader of your civilization?”

Amanda thought for a moment. “I guess I am,” she said at last.

“You are?” Adrian asked in surprise. “Pardon me for questioning you, but what about the Artilect? I thought he was in charge!”

Amanda shook her head. “No, he just runs the network. Technically he answers to me.”

“But how is that possible? Did you inherit this position from your parents? Are you the daughter of some past king?”

“No, it’s not like that,” Amanda said. She hesitated. “I guess you could say that I was given administrative rights over the Artilect a long time ago, and I’ve had them ever since.”

“Are there others that also have these rights?” Elder Lane asked.

Amanda shook her head. “No, not really. You see–”

The Sentinel interrupted. “Amanda, didn’t you have a task you were going to perform? I believe it will take you some time to accomplish it, and your mother wants you to return home at a reasonable hour.”

“Of course,” Elder Lane said. “I’m sorry – I don’t mean to pry. We just know so little about you. If we’re going to negotiate leaving our home world and going into the unknown – well, it seemed like a good idea to understand who we were talking to and who is in charge.”

“Certainly,” the Sentinel said. “And there will come a time when we will answer all of your questions. But for now we need to accomplish what we came here to do and then leave, so that you can think about the future of your people.”

“What did you come here to do?” Elder Lane asked.

“I wanted to rebuild Xanthe for you,” Amanda replied. “I’d like to put it back the way it used to be.”

“Is that even possible?” Elder Lane asked. “Wouldn’t that take centuries to accomplish?”

“Oh no,” Amanda said. “I think I can do it pretty quickly. However, before I begin I’ll need a schematic of Star City – the way it used to be. The only one I’ve got with me was taken in the 19th century and I don’t think you would recognize it. You don’t have anything more modern, do you?”

“Of course,” Adrian commented. “In fact, all of our synthetic worlds contain a recreation of Star City. Here, let me pull it up for you. Perhaps the files will be of use.”

Adrian shuffled over to the nearest console and brought up the schematic. After the file was loaded Amanda closed her eyes and mentally entered the file system. In a moment of time she downloaded the data and analyzed it, until she was sure that she knew what to do. She then opened her eyes and smiled. “I’m ready,” she said.

“But you haven’t downloaded the file!” Adrian exclaimed.

“Trust me,” Amanda replied. “I have what I need.”

An instant later the four of them found themselves standing on a small hill that overlooked the ruins of Star City – the very same hill that the Sentinel had transported Amanda to when they first arrived. As soon as they appeared Elder Lane froze. “What just happened?” he asked nervously. “Where did we go?”

“I’ve taken you to the surface,” Amanda explained. “Now watch.”

Amanda took a few steps forward, then closed her eyes and raised her hands. She mentally connected to the massive network of nanites that saturated every cubic inch of Xanthe. Drawing on the data from the file that she had downloaded from the pod’s computer system, she began giving instructions to the nanites.

To the people standing around Amanda it looked as if the air had suddenly become blurry. Something they couldn’t quite see began moving rapidly. Then, slowly, things began changing. The dust that covered everything melted away, and the parched ground around them morphed into black topsoil. A few minutes later the entire landscape, as far as they could see, had turned from a dingy brown into a rich black.

Then the ground began to sprout, and thin shafts of green grass erupted from the soil. It was as if the ground itself was suddenly exploding with life! Tender shoots shot up, forming saplings that turned into giant trees over the course of just a few minutes. Soon the barren hills were covered in forests. Ancient riverbeds, long ago lost to time, reformed and were soon filled with water once more.

The air around them became fresh and sweet, carrying the scents of trees. Spring was in the air, for the first time in thousands of years. The pale sky transformed into a deep blue sky, and white clouds began appearing. Beneath their feet the black soil disappeared entirely; they were now standing in a deep bed of rich green grass. In the distance they saw birds circling overhead – the first signs of wildlife that Adrian had seen since he entered his pod a lifetime ago.

Amanda knew that it would take time to bring the entire planet back to life, so she focused on changing the surrounding area first. Once the immediate area around Star City had been restored she gave orders for the reconstruction of the rest of the planet. As the nanites continued their work Amanda turned her attention to the city itself.

At first it looked like the city was simply melting. Elder Lane was surprised to see the ruined structures turn into mud and sink back into the soil. Then the brown substance turned green and began glowing with a vibrant energy. Over the course of half an hour the green material took on the shape of buildings. Then the green color melted away and revealed buildings of steel and glass. Giant skyscrapers climbed out of the ground as green shapes and then morphed into actual buildings. The city streets began reappearing, and even the vegetation was recreated.

When all was finished Amanda opened her eyes and turned around. Elder Lane and Adrian Garza were staring at Star City, a look of utter disbelief on their faces.

“There you go!” Amanda said cheerfully. “Consider this a down-payment on your future. You are more than welcome to live here until you’re ready to join us in the network.”

“I can’t believe it,” Elder Lane gasped. “It’s perfect! I never would have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.”

“You’re welcome,” Amanda replied. “It was no trouble at all. Is there anything else you need from us?”

“Oh no,” Elder Lane said. “You’ve done quite enough – more than enough, actually. We will be in touch with you again, I’m sure. Just give us some time to process what has happened and work through the issues. I’ll have Adrian contact you in, say, a week from today?”

“Very good,” the Sentinel said.

“Goodbye,” Amanda replied. “It was nice meeting you.”

“The pleasure was ours,” Adrian replied.

Amanda and the Sentinel then vanished.

* * * * *
 

For a long time the two men just stood there and looked at the world around them. They were overwhelmed at what had just happened. Adrian was filled with wonder, but Elder Lane was filled with terror.

Van Toby and Grant have got to see this, Elder Lane thought to himself. I told them the aliens’ technology was real! They won’t be able to laugh this off. This is serious – much more serious than I thought. No wonder they were able to defeat the swarms! Adrian didn’t tell me the half of what they could do.

“So what do you think?” Adrian asked, interrupting Elder Lane’s thoughts.

“Amanda clearly has great power over the physical world,” Lane said.

Adrian nodded. “She certainly does. She told us that she’s in charge of the Artilect, so I imagine that’s where her power comes from. I’ve been told it’s a machine of extraordinary capabilities.”

“And she is its last master,” Lane said thoughtfully.

“So she said,” Adrian agreed. “What do we do now?”

“Let me ask you a question. Why do we each have our own synthetic worlds?”

“For safety reasons, of course,” Adrian said. “Otherwise–” He suddenly stopped, realizing what he was about to say.

“Exactly,” Elder Lane said. “You know all the horrific things you’ve done to the synthetics that inhabit your world. I’ve done the same to mine – we all have. If you and me and the others all lived in the same world then whoever had the most power would force everyone else to be their slaves, and they would torment them until they died. It’s who we are, and it’s who we’ve always been.”

Adrian looked around him. He stared at the rebuilt Star City. Doubt began to eat at his mind. “Our power is no match for Amanda’s,” he said.

Elder Lane nodded. “We’re nothing but ants compared to her. We may be masters of our synthetic worlds, but in the physical world she has complete control. She has demonstrated a level of mastery that goes far beyond anything we could ever hope to accomplish. What do you think is going to happen now?”

“But what we can do about it?” Adrian asked. “How can we possibly fight such an overwhelming force?”

“I don’t know,” Elder Lane said. “I need time. But what I do know is that we can’t let this happen, Adrian. You know what you’ve done when you had endless power. Do you really believe that Amanda is going to behave any differently?”

The swarms had regrouped in deep space, trillions of miles away from any other star system. In front of them, separated by only a few million miles, was the rapidly retreating invasion force. The mindless intelligence that controlled the swarms estimated that the bots were less than sixty seconds away from catching and obliterating the invaders.

Then, instantly, the situation changed. A soft white light filled the vacuum of space and the swarms were jerked to a stop. Some unseen force had altered the structure of spacetime so profoundly that their propulsion systems no longer functioned. They were dead in space, unable to move.

The swarms desperately searched for their attacker but they could see no one. All they could detect was a piercing white light that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. Even the invasion force they had been following had vanished from view. In something akin to panic the swarms began wildly firing in all directions, but the shots simply dissipated into space. They were trapped, and they had no target to fire at.

Unknown to them, hundreds of thousands of Alpha-class starships had surrounded them. These ships were projecting the field that frozen the swarms in place. No matter how hard the bots tried they would not be able to move. Even their ability to enter hyperspace had been taken from them. For the first time since they were created the swarms were utterly helpless.

The technique that the warships were using to immobilize the swarms was quite dangerous. Altering the structure of space itself changed the way matter behaved. If this has been done inside a star system it would have caused the entire system to collapse and destroy itself – a fact that the Artilect was well aware of. That is why it had chosen to lure them into an empty area, so it could fight them without causing any further stellar destruction.

Once the Artilect was satisfied that the swarms were trapped it gave the command to launch its next wave. In an instant billions upon billions of Beta-class starships appeared in the midst of the swarms. Each of these ships was a sphere about a hundred feet in diameter. Unlike the swarms, they had the ability to maneuver inside the disruption field that the Alpha ships were generating.

As soon as the Beta ships appeared they began radiating a white pulse of energy that instantly obliterated the bots that surrounded them. The swarms vainly tried to attack the Beta ships, but it was difficult for them to get off more than a few shots before the energy engulfed and destroyed them. A small percentage of the Beta ships were lost but the onslaught simply could not be stopped.

The trapped bots tried desperately to escape but they could not move. They then attempted to replicate, but they found that they could not do that either. Even their attempts at transforming into some sort of offensive weapon failed. The bots were forced to simply wait helplessly as the oncoming tide of irresistible energy turned them all into cosmic dust.

The entire battle took less than half an hour. When it was over every last bot was destroyed, and less than five percent of the Beta ships had been lost. The Alpha ships were not even scratched.

* * * * *
 

“Well, that was kind of boring, actually,” Amanda said, sighing.

“Let us be heartily thankful for that,” Sergeant Howell replied. “The invasion was stopped before it started, with no loss of life. That is something we can be tremendously thankful for.”

“Oh, I know,” Amanda agreed. “But – it was just so easy. There wasn’t anything to it! I thought it would be a much fiercer struggle.”

“It’s not over yet, miss,” Jones replied. “The next time we fight them it will be very different.”

“What do you mean, the next time?” Captain Max asked. “They’re all gone, aren’t they?”

“For now,” Jones agreed. “But those who created them are still there, and they have not been neutralized. This is not the end of it.”

“Well, we’ll deal with that when the time comes,” Richard said. “For now I think a celebration is in order! After thousands of years of tyranny the endless war has been finished. The people of Tau Ceti are now free.”

“Does that mean I can go get Amy?” Amanda asked.

“I don’t see why not,” Richard said. He turned to Sergeant Howell. “Is it over?”

“As far as I can tell,” Sergeant Howell replied.

“Then go ahead,” Richard said.

* * * * *
 

Ten minutes later the entire group was assembled in the holographic room in the core of Tonina. The Artilect had created a table and some chairs, and they were all sitting around, talking to each other and staring at the holographic display in the center of the room.

“So what do we do now?” Captain Max asked. “Are we done?”

“I detect no further threat,” the Artilect replied. “I cannot locate any remnant of the swarms anywhere in space – not even so much as a single bot. The swarms sent their entire fleet into our territory and we destroyed them all at once. There were no survivors.”

“That was a pretty foolish move on their part,” Sergeant Howell said. “I’m surprised they did that.”

“Maybe the swarms just aren’t very smart,” Amy suggested. “Maybe they’ve just depended on their superior numbers for all these years.”

“They lasted an awfully long time, though,” Amanda commented. “I don’t see how they could do that by being stupid.”

“I think the Artilect should take a lot of credit for this,” Sergeant Howell said. “Without his superior technology and strength this victory would not have occurred. I know you girls weren’t there for this, but do the rest of you remember what happened when they attacked Quetzalli?”

“That was terrifying!” Laura commented. “I didn’t think we were going to survive.”

“We almost didn’t,” Captain Max said. “In fact, Quetzalli itself was destroyed. It was a really close call.”

Amy spoke up. “I bet Adrian was overjoyed to hear that the swarms were defeated!”

“We actually haven’t told him yet,” Richard said.

“You haven’t!” Amy exclaimed. “Why not?”

“Well, for one thing, we haven’t decided what to tell him,” her father explained. “Now that the swarms are gone, should we tell them to go ahead and start coming to Tonina? Is it time for them to leave their pods and re-enter society? If it is, do we have a plan in place for their migration?”

“Shouldn’t that be their decision?” Laura asked. “I mean, after all, it’s their choice. Maybe we should let them know what their options are and then see what they want to do. This is going to be a big change for them.”

“Your wife has a good point,” Captain Max commented. “They’ve been in those pods an awfully long time, Rick. It might take them a while to re-adjust to life in the real world. Maybe they should live on their own planet for a while, before we suddenly dump them into the future.”

“But their planet is in ruins!” Amy said. “That’s what Steve said, anyway. No one could live there!”

“I could fix it for them,” Amanda offered. “With the nanites it wouldn’t be hard to make it habitable again. Then they could live there for a while until they got accustomed to life again.”

“That’s not a bad idea!” Captain Max said. “In fact, that’s something we should probably do anyway. It would be a nice gesture on our part.”

The Sentinel spoke up. “Would you like for me to go to Xanthe and talk to them? I would be happy to inform them that the swarms have been destroyed and that we are ready to give them access to the network, once they are able to receive it.”

“Can I go with you?” Amy asked. “I would really really like to meet them!”

Sergeant Howell shook his head. “I don’t think that’s wise, miss. For the time being I think it wold be best if they only knew about your sister Amanda. I think you should stay in hiding until we are sure that everything is safe.”

“But the bots are gone!” Amy protested. “There’s no danger left. What am I hiding from?”

“I think the sergeant is correct,” Jones said. “This is not over.”

Amy looked at her father. “Please, Dad? Please let me go?”

Her father reluctantly shook his head. “I’m sorry, Amy, I really am. I know how much you want to go. But I don’t think it’s going to hurt anything if you stayed hidden for just a few more days, just until we’re sure that the bots really are gone. If nothing happens then you can rejoin us.”

“It won’t be much longer, dear,” Laura added. “Honest.”

Fine,” Amy said, fuming.

“Can I go, then?” Amanda asked. “I mean, we might as well go ahead and terraform Xanthe while we’re there, right? No sense in making two trips.”

“You know, I can perform that function on my own,” the Sentinel replied.

“Oh, I know, but I want to do it. Besides, I think it will mean more to them if I do it. They’ve met you before, but the only one of us they’ve met is Reverend Knight. I want them to know that we’re here to help.”

The Sentinel turned to Richard. “What do you think?” he asked.

“It’s fine with me,” Richard replied. “As long as she’s in your care I am sure that nothing will happen to her.”

“How long will this take?” Sergeant Howell asked.

“Oh, an hour or two,” Amanda replied vaguely. “I won’t be too long.”

“Don’t forget to come home when you’re done,” her mother warned her. “We’ll have plenty of time to talk to them later. All right?”

Ok,” Amanda agreed.

Amy sighed. “I’ll see you later, then,” she said. The girl then disappeared.