The Remnant: On the Brink of Armageddon (Left Behind Series #10)

by Tim LaHaye, Jerry B. Jenkins

Overview

Book 10 in the 12-book series that has sold over 63 million copies!

Read the books that launched a cultural phenomenon!

“This is the most successful Christian fiction series ever.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Combines Tom Clancy–like suspense with touches of romance, high-tech flash, and biblical references.”
—New York Times

“Call it what you like, the Left Behind series . . . now has a label its creators could have never predicted: blockbuster success.”
—Entertainment

Are you ready for the moment of truth?

• Mass disappearances
• Political crisis
• Economic crisis
• Worldwide epidemics
• Environmental catastrophe
• Military apocalypse

And that’s just the beginning . . .
of the end of the world.

The 12 books in the series by New York Times best-selling authors Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins cover the events of biblical prophecy surrounding the rapture and the seven-year period known as the tribulation that follows.

The Remnant: On the Brink of Armageddon
Nicolae Carpathia has his enemies right where he wants them: massed at Petra, a million strong. The Tribulation Force’s aliases and even their safe houses have been compromised, forcing Rayford, Buck, and all the members to flee for their lives while trying to maintain their overt opposition to the Antichrist. All pretense is gone, even on the part of the Antichrist, as the planet hurtles toward the ultimate showdown between good and evil.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781414334998
Publisher:	Tyndale House Publishers
Publication date:	04/01/2011
Series:	Left Behind Series
Pages:	448
Sales rank:	40,945
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.94(d)
Lexile:	830L (what's this?)

About the Author

A prominent pastor, Tim LaHaye (1926-2016) was a New York Times bestselling author of more than 70 books, many on biblical prophecy and end-times. He coauthored the record-shattering Left Behind series (with Jerry B. Jenkins) and is considered one of America’s foremost authorities on biblical end-times prophecy. LaHaye earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from Western Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Literature degree from Liberty University.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter 1

The Remnant

Rayford Steele had endured enough brushes with death to know that the cliché was more than true: Not only did your life flash before your mind’s eye, but your senses were also on high alert. As he knelt awkwardly on the unforgiving red rock of the city of Petra in ancient Edom, he was aware of everything, remembered everything, thought of everything and everybody.

Despite the screaming Global Community fighter-bombers—larger than any he had ever seen or even read about—he heard his own concussing heart and wheezing lungs. New to the robe and sandals of an Egyptian, he tottered on sore knees and toes. Rayford could not bow his head, could not tear his eyes from the sky and the pair of warheads that seemed to grow larger as they fell.

Beside him his dear compatriot, Abdullah Smith, prostrated himself, burying his head in his hands. To Rayford, Smitty represented everyone he was responsible for—the entire Tribulation Force around the world. Some were in Chicago, some in Greece, some with him in Petra. One was in New Babylon. And as the Jordanian groaned and leaned into him, Rayford felt Abdullah shuddering.

Rayford was scared too. He wouldn’t have denied it. Where was the faith that should have come from seeing God, so many times, deliver him from death? It wasn’t that he doubted God. But something deep within—his survival instinct, he assumed—told him he was about to die.

For most people, doubt was long gone by now . . . there were few skeptics anymore. If someone were not a Christ follower by now, probably he had chosen to oppose God.

Rayford had no fear of death itself or of the afterlife. Providing heaven for his people was a small feat for the God who now manifested himself miraculously every day. It was the dying part Rayford dreaded. For while his God had protected him up to now and promised eternal life when death came, he had not spared Rayford injury and pain. What would it be like to fall victim to the warheads?

Quick, that was sure. Rayford knew enough about Nicolae Carpathia to know the man would not cut corners now. While one bomb could easily destroy the million people who—all but Rayford, it seemed—tucked their heads as close to between their legs as they were able, two bombs would vaporize them. Would the flashes blind him? Would he hear the explosions? feel the heat? be aware of his body disintegrating into bits?

Whatever happened, Carpathia would turn it into political capital. He might not televise the million unarmed souls, showing their backsides to the Global Community as the bombs hurtled in. But he would show the impact, the blasts, the fire, the smoke, the desolation. He would illustrate the futility of opposing the new world order.

Rayford’s mind argued against his instincts. Dr. Ben-Judah believed they were safe, that this was a city of refuge, the place God had promised. And yet Rayford had lost a man here just days before. On the other hand, the ground attack by the GC had been miraculously thwarted at the last instant. Why couldn’t Rayford rest in that, trust, believe, have confidence?

Because he knew warheads. And as these dropped, parachutes puffed from each, slowing them and allowing them to drop simultaneously straight down toward the assembled masses. Rayford’s heart sank when he saw the black pole attached to noses of the bombs. The GC had left nothing to chance. Just over four feet long, as soon as those stand-off probes touched the ground they would trip the fuses, causing the bombs to explode above the surface.



Rayford’s first inkling was that he was in hell. Had he been wrong? Had it all been for naught? Had he been killed and missed heaven in spite of it all?

He was unaware of separate explosions. The bombs had caused such a blinding flash that even with his eyes involuntarily pressed shut as tightly as his facial muscles would allow, the sheer brilliant whiteness seemed to fill Rayford’s entire skull. It was as if the glare filled him and then shone from him, and he grimaced against the sound and heat that had to follow. Surely he would be blown into the others and finally obliterated.

The resounding boom sent a shock wave of its own, but Rayford did not topple, and he heard no rocks falling, no mountainous formations crashing. He instinctively thrust out his hands to steady himself, but that proved unnecessary. He heard ten thousand wails and moans and shrieks, but his own throat was constricted. Even with his eyes closed, the whiteness was replaced by orange and red and black, and now, oh, the stench of fire and metal and oil and rock! Rayford forced himself to open his eyes, and as the thunderous roar echoed throughout Petra he realized he was ablaze. He lifted his robed arms before his face, at least temporarily unaware of the searing heat. He knew his robe, then flesh, then bone would be consumed within seconds.

Rayford could not see far in the raging firestorm, but every huddled pilgrim around him was also ablaze. Abdullah rolled to one side and lay in a fetal position, his face and head still cocooned in his arms. White, yellow, orange, black roaring flames engulfed him as if he were a human wick for a demonic holocaust.



It was four in the morning in Chicago, and Buck sat before the television. Leah and Albie joined him, Zeke having gone to collect Enoch. “Where’s Ming?” Buck said.

“With the baby,” Leah said.

“What do you make of this?” Albie said, staring at the screen.

Buck shook his head. “I just wish I was there.”

“Me too,” Albie said. “I feel like a coward, a traitor.”

“We missed something,” Buck said. “We all missed something.” He kept trying to call Chloe, only imagining what she was going through. No answer.

“Do you believe this guy?” Leah said. “It’s not enough to massacre a million people and destroy one of the most beautiful cities in the world. He’s chasing it with a missile.”

Buck thought Leah’s voice sounded tight. And why not? She had to be thinking what he was thinking, that they had not only lost their leadership and seen a million people incinerated, but that everything they thought they knew was out the window.

“Get Ming, would you?” he said. “Tell her to let Kenny sleep.”

Leah hurried out as Zeke and Enoch walked in. Zeke plopped onto the floor, but Enoch stood fidgeting. “I can’t stay long, Buck,” he said. “My people are pretty shaken.”

Buck nodded. “Let’s all get together at daybreak.”

“And—?” Enoch said.

“And I don’t know what. Pray, I guess.”

“We’ve been praying,” Albie said. “It’s time to reload.”



As the Tribulation Force in Chicago watched, the fighter-bomber pilot acknowledged to GC command that he had a visual on the missile originating from Amman. And from the right side of the screen came the thick, white plume trailing the winding projectile as it approached the flame and smoke rising from Petra.

The missile dived out of sight into the blackness, and seconds later yet another explosion erupted, blowing even wider the fire that seemed to own the mountainous region.

Editorial Reviews

Lakes and rivers turn to blood. Global life endangered by scorching sun. Darkness blankets Middle East; astronomers baffled.

Hordes of Christ-followers seeking refuge in Petra are slated for massacre by Supreme Potentate Nicolae Carpathia’s armies. With key members dead or missing, the Tribulation Force frantically prepares to fight the ultimate battle between good and evil—until their safe house is compromised and they flee for their lives. Will they escape before Carpathia obliterates the city? Most important, will they fulfill their mission as the world hurtles toward Armageddon?

The Remnant is #10 in the phenomenal New York Times best-selling Left Behind series that rocked the publishing world and made millions think seriously about the future and their places in it.

With special features relating to current events and end-times prophecy.

From the Publisher

The fate of humankind hangs in the balance, as the beleaguered Tribulation Force prepares to defend itself against the Antichrist in Jerry Jenkins and Tim Lahaye's thrilling tenth installment of their bestselling Left Behind series -- now available in paperback.

bn.com

Later books in the Left Behind series have been increasingly thin in plot development and characterization, and Number 10 follows this trend. A nuclear bomb dropped on the Tribulation Force’s Petra sanctuary and a few more Revelationary plagues are plausible and believable, but the increasing number of shallow characters drags down the old faithfuls. Richard Ferrone’s performance reflects the overall quality of the writing, as it lacks some of his earlier thoughtfulness in characterization. Still, Ferrone’s reading offers great pace, consistent accents, and as much enthusiasm as anyone could muster. Let’s hope the authors pick up their part of the burden in the next installment. R.P.L. 2003 Audie Award Finalist © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine

FEB/MAR 03 - AudioFile