Millennium

MILLENNIUM: THE LORD REIGNS begins with a Prologue titled "Crashing Down." Like my previous novel, THE END OF DAYS, it is set in the final weeks of the current era when the Lord''s prophesied end-time judgments are falling upon the decimated world that has just been ruled by the Antichrist, the European-born Emperor Andre, for three and a half years. In the first paragraphs, the new Freedom Tower in lower Manhattan is among the many things described as literally crashing down to the earth, bringing instant emotion to readers worldwide who vividly recall the terror attacks of 9/11 over ten years ago. A young mother in Newark NJ desperately attempts to save her baby boy from the tremendous upheaval all around her, finally being forced to quickly place him in her parent''s oven as an intense earthquake shakes the area. She is killed in the quake, but not the baby, rescued by the family maid. He then disappears from the novel until discovered by his grandparents and other saints--living contentedly in their glorified bodies--in chapter eight. Named Yourgos Kirintelos, he later goes on to become an international singing star and a major protagonist who fathers the evil man destined to lead the final worldwide rebellion against the Lord''s millennial rule, foretold in Revelation 20. Kirintelos produces the child with another major protagonist, Donna Svenson, the human sister of Sarah Goldman (who features with her son Benny as the main redeemed characters in the story, Sarah was also the heroine of my first novel). The dramatic clash between the rebellious Donna, also introduced in End of Days, and her sister Sarah, who runs the Jerusalem medical system under the authority of Prince David (King David, who governs Israel under Yeshua''s overall authority) is a recurring source of captivating tension and action throughout the novel. The contrast between the ever-rejoicing redeemed saints living in their unchanging eternal bodies and the constantly expanding human race, decaying and still prone to sin, keeps the story exciting throughout, while also serving as an evangelical tool that shows the "benefits" of surrendering one''s life to the Lord in this current era. In the end, Donna accepts the Lord''s gift of eternal life, but only on her deathbed as an elderly woman. Before that, her licentious affair with Yourgos, who is married, is vividly portrayed, but in a way that Christian parent''s will find acceptable for teenage readers. Sarah''s struggles with Donna allows the novel to demonstrate that the saints, while blissfully redeemed, still experience the full range of human emotions, as hinted at by various scriptures which tell us God Himself can sometimes be angry, jealous of false gods, loving, forgiving, upset, etc. This human-redeemed contrast is also portrayed with great intensity in the final chapters of the novel as Benny--serving as a Justice Minister in a Greek Isles millennial province--takes on his Aunt Donna''s son in the ultimate clash of history. The novel then ends with the Great White Throne Judgment as the current heaven and earth are dissolved, making way for the new heavens and earth to appear, with the New Jerusalem at its center. Backing up to Chapter One of MILLENNIUM: THE LORD REIGNS, we discover Sarah dancing the Jewish hora in the cleansed Jerusalem Temple with her previous era husband Jonathan, their now young adult-looking children Benny and Tali, many of their close believing friends from my first novel, and several biblical characters who also appeared in the companion novel, along with a few who did not. I carefully re-introduce each character so that if someone has not read End of Days, or did so many years ago (first published by Baker/Revell in 1995 with an expanded edition by 21st Century Press in 2005), they will know who each of them are and their relationships with each other. Later on, I add many "details" from the previous era that were not actually included in the original novel, giving it more texture and acting to reveal more about the personalities of the characters involved. Everyone who has already read my new novel has commented that the characters are well presented and easily comprehensible even if the reader was not already familiar with them. Among the things my readers say has most moved them is the heart-stirring introduction of Jonathan''s paternal grandfather into the new novel, who we learn had given his life to the Lord after Yeshua appeared to him just as he was about to die in an Auschwitz gas chamber. This of course was unknown to Jonathan or to his parents, who are also among the glorified saints after being beheaded for their faith by Andre''s forces in Chicago (detailed in my first novel). The surprise reunion is tender for sure. Then Jonathan discovers that his twin brother, who died at birth unbeknownst to him, is also in glory, serving as a perpetual Temple priest, as is his aborted son who was conceived out of wedlock when he was a wayward teen. Later the Auschwitz victim, a former rabbi, discovers the Torah scroll that he hid when Nazi forces destroyed his synagogue in Berlin on Kristallnacht in 1938. The sacred scroll is actually found by Benny in the ruins of a Brooklyn synagogue that had been presided over by Jonathan''s maternal grandfather. Readers of my latest novel have found it to be well balanced between interesting details of the laws, customs, and technology of the Lord''s millennial age, which might appeal more to male readers, and the various relationships described, including a fierce struggle between two young men over Sarah''s beautiful cousin who survives the tribulation in her native California, with one of the guys eventually marrying her. Jonathan and his great grandfather and grandparents serve as provincial officials in the Greek Isles, with his earthly best friend Eli Ben David presiding as governor. Featuring the Lord Himself as the overall main character, I believe my new novel will be well received by readers everywhere.