Book Summary

History teaches us that communities, nations and empires will always rise and fall. Their demise is often blamed on natural disasters, escalated attrition, resource exploitation, climate shifts, geography, military invasion, or institutional failure. But there are also endemic causes which ultimately drive civilizations from ‘lean-and-mean’ to ‘fat-and-soft.’ Simply put, humans are born into a plethora of evil opportunities…thus, we have met the real enemy, and it is us!

BloodPath, The Hell of Heaven, explores daily life in a future world where pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, and laziness is replaced by humility, kindness, abstinence, chastity, patience, generosity, and diligence. A world ruled by a benevolent and wise king who suppresses evil thoughts in humans, controls nature against disasters threatening his kingdom, and judges swiftly without a single mistake. He also lavishes his subjects with dedication, love, and respect.

A Utopian fantasy you say…well, consider the fact that this story takes place in an earthly kingdom predicted by numerous inspired authors, and recorded in a book which has miraculously survived intact thru the ages. This book recorded other milestone events, centuries before they happened, yet they transpired precisely as predicted. So how could humans deny the promise of such a perfect kingdom in its future…because this denial was also predicted!

Introduction

Heaven is a place where everything is perfect! It is a place where we will live in beautiful play houses…no wait…play mansions, custom designed by God Himself, because He knows exactly what we like. It is also a place where we will no longer have to eat disgusting foods, such as turnips, brussel sprouts, or broccoli. Best of all, we can roughhouse with dangerous wild animals that no longer want to eat us, skip mid-day nap times, and play with our friends all day, every day…albeit, after attending a boring worship service with the grown-ups!

Okay, so I am not sure what your vision of Heaven is like, but to a 9-year old boy, growing up in the 50’s, and perhaps afflicted with a bad case of selective hearing, it was what my young mind passively translated as the pastor droned on, and I fidgeted in the church pew, while pretending to ignore my mother’s disapproving glare. The one thing that sticks in my mind about church, was dreaming of the adventures I was going to have with my pocket full of plastic army men once the service ended.

Later I characterized the typical distracted teenager; more interested in weekend beach parties than attending the special church rallies my mother insisted upon. Somehow, without realizing it, the pastors and featured speakers at these events were slowly getting into my head and I found myself subliminally absorbing some of those weird stories from Revelation, by far the strangest and scariest book in the Bible.

As I understood it, Heaven could not be realized until the end of a massive world-wide conflagration, called Armadillo…or something like that. Of course, this was not your typical John Wayne shoot-em-up; this was some really bad mojo, complete with sea monsters, raging beasts, bad women, bugs, plagues, pitchers of blood, talking horns, earthquakes, fireballs from space, and lots of death and wailing…I’m sure you get the picture. It was sobering stuff for a teenager, and it started me thinking that perhaps I should seek to be on the winning side of such a global disaster.

Apparently, Jesus Christ, the last-minute hero, suddenly descends on a cloudy day, and scoops up all the ‘good people,’ who are instantly escorted into Heaven. In truth, this part of the story gave me frequent bouts of insomnia because I secretly knew I had done a lot of bad things, and thus lacked confidence that I might be selected as one of the ‘scoopee’s’. I also had to admit that on more than one occasion, I earnestly hoped the Second Coming would hold off until I was able to fall in love with a girl, raise a family, and enjoy the benefits of a successful career…hmmm, would you call that hubris or naivety?

It came as a complete shock to me when I finally understood that the period, identified in the Bible as the Millennial Reign, does not have anything to do with living in Heaven! In fact, it is a block of time – literally a thousand years, as interpreted by many theologians – that will transpire right here on Earth…and with a mix of good and bad people!

In very simple terms, it represents act four of a five act play which, in theatrical lingo, finally fades-to-black as the curtain falls on the complete destruction of evil. Of course, the big pink elephant in the room, is this Lucifer guy who is left alive to fight another day. Why does he have to be bound in chains for a thousand years before he and his followers are finally given the choice to go with ‘original’ or ‘extra crispy’? This was a paradox for me because I was taught that the Second Coming sent good people to live in Heaven while spelling “hasta la vista baby,” to all things bad on a dead Earth.

This presents another interesting quandary because, if all these reanimated ‘good guys’ are floating up into the clouds to join King Jesus, then why are they apparently floating right back down to Earth instead of proceeding onwards towards Heaven, where the custom mansions are located? Talk about a total let-down; that is like booking a luxurious ocean liner, destined for the French Rivera, only to be dumped on a garbage scow in the middle of New Delhi, the next day!

At this point it is important for me to affirm my conviction that the Creator has a Master Plan and it is unfolding precisely as He has intended. Still, it does pose several questions in my mind about His purposes for the Millennial Reign? The question that haunts me the most is how Millennial residents are supposed to enjoy a thousand years of perfect peace and happiness with the full knowledge that this Architect-of-Evil, though temporarily chained down, is still alive and coiling in the darkness for one last strike against humanity? Once Lucifer is unchained, he will recruit an army intent on destroying the capitol city, and we are told this force will consist of resurrected wicked people. But could it also include the prodigy of ‘Old World’ survivors who experienced life in a Millennial world yet patently reject it because they felt out of place, isolated, and miserable?

Sure, the Bible reassures us that Lucifer’s attack will end in a fiery cataclysm, but then one is forced to ask, why all this drama? Why not dispatch Satan and his evil host during the finale of the Armageddon conflagration? Obviously, the Creator has the ultimate power over all life and death, so what is the logic or purpose behind waiting a thousand years for another frustrating face-off with this turkey?

My confusion about the mysteries surrounding the Millennium continued to deepen as I contemplated Biblical texts, such as those found in Matthew 25:31-39, referring to the preferential treatment of ‘sheep nations’ as opposed to ‘goat nations.’ The use of the term ‘nation’ has several implications which we can readily relate to in our present world. If there are nations – please note the plurality – then there must be some form of civilized connectivity such as commerce. Commerce precludes the need for order and communication in such areas as resource exploration, manufacturing and assembly plants, consumer markets, trade, mediums of exchange, transportation systems, administrative oversight bureaus, financial auditing and underwriting agencies, tax collection, judicial court systems, diplomatic embassies, homeland security and national defense forces, and countless other regulatory agencies…in short, a complex system of networks and bureaucracies requiring local and regional administration within a centralized government!

It is also interesting that the Bible indicates the ‘blessed’ sheep nations will receive, as it were, preferential treatment in the form of good weather, perfect planting conditions, and maximum harvests. On the other hand, the ‘cursed’ goat nations get just the opposite, thus implying a very hard and difficult struggle for their survival. Does this not smack of the ages-old struggle between the haves and have-nots? To me this sounds like national economic classifications such as Developed Countries and Under-Developed Countries will exist during the Millennium! Does it also suggest the existence of a hierarchy composed of classifications such as ‘white-collar’ and ‘blue-collar’ populations?

In our present world, we inherit the conditions of our existence through the accident-of-birth, meaning we have no control or choice concerning our geographic location, heritage, or family background. Is this to be the same for our placement into the Millennial civilization? Do we have any control over landing within a desirable sheep nation, as opposed to getting stuck in an undesirable goat nation? More importantly, once located, is it possible or probable that we could be relocated? If this is possible, then, contrary to what many pastors are teaching us these days, we had better start concentrating a lot more on works as well as faith, because both would seem to have a substantial impact on our Millennial future.

To better understand the necessity and purpose for the Millennium, it is important to consider some background events which led to the initial Heavenly rebellion, and the subsequent introduction of ‘evil’ into the Holy lexicon. The general fly-over is that Lucifer, along with his followers, were publicly denounced, had their citizenships revoked, and were cast out of their Heavenly domiciles after expressing a disagreement over creative policy. The Bible describes this event as a “War in Heaven,” but it sounds more like a philosophical debate rather than a physical clash of arms. The controversial question is, why all the hubbub over a difference of opinion? Well, it turns out the devil is in the details…pun intended.

The principle opponents were the Godhead, composed of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, against Lucifer, an exalted angelic creature sometimes referred to, in his former life, as the “Morning Star.”

In formal literary terms, the challengeable hypothesis was that God introduced a unique creation, called Man, to be His special companion. Lucifer instantly disliked this new creation and saw it as a personal threat to his public approbation. He retorted that to be a truly equal and compatible companion, the new creation should ‘know’ everything that his Creator knew…okay, so exactly how deep this philosophical rabbit hole was meant to go, we will probably never know, but for literary expediency, we should agree that it is not germane to our present discussion.

For the record, the foundational flaw in Lucifer’s ideology was that Man was specifically created by God to ‘know’ only the knowledge of good. The fact is, the physiological, psychological, and sociological composition of this creation was never intended to survive in a negative environment. Man was only intended to live and socialize with his Creator in a positive environment of love and mutual respect. If you doubt this then explain why harmful physical and chemical changes occur within our bodies, autonomically, whenever we do something wrong!

The spark that lit the powder keg was not the content of the disagreement, but the way Lucifer proposed his alternative ideology. His argument was primarily motivated by a unique and never before witnessed emotional display of envy, pride, and jealousy. Rather than engaging in a civilized discussion with his Creator, Lucifer chose to defy God with anger, negativity, and eventually, the threat of open rebellion. In other words, he may have had a legitimate argument but alas, he lost all credibility with his unsolicited emotional theatrics.

God was forced to hold a town hall meeting because of Lucifer’s open defiance. God put the opposing ideologies to a democratic vote and the Heavenly census voted in the Godhead’s favor, sixty-six per cent to thirty-three per cent, thus reestablishing order. Lucifer, along with those who sided with him, were subsequently evicted from Heaven, and sent packing to the newly created Earth…where, as luck would have it, Adam and Eve also called home.

So now we have Lucifer and his cronies banished to Earth and warily eye-balling Adam and Eve, who are busily working the Garden and passing time with the Creator. After closely observing the interaction between the Creator and Man, Lucifer sparks an idea and teleports back to Heaven for a face-to-face with God. During this meeting, Lucifer correctly points out that to be completely fair and unbiased, Man should also be given a choice between the two opposing ideologies, because this would publicly affirm Man’s ability to exercise free will. Surprisingly, God agrees with this assertion but then restricts Lucifer’s access and interaction with Adam and Eve, to a small patch of ground containing a tree identified as “The Tree of Good and Evil Knowledge.” As a final touch that would make Wiley Coyote proud, God visits Adam and Eve, on the sly, and whispers in their ear to steer clear of said tree while resisting any temptation to sample its fruit…oh yes, and by the way…you die if you do!

Cleverly, Lucifer shape-changes into a creature renowned for its beauty and successfully lures Eve to the proximity of the ‘Tree’…hey, he may be the devil, but he is not stupid! So, faster than a speeding bullet, Adam and Eve fall into the trap and, to the utter astonishment of the Heavenly host, they do so without first seeking the Creator’s counsel before making their choice! They voluntarily disregarded God’s warning and compounded this error by buying into Lucifer’s boldface lie, ‘of course you won’t die, in fact you will know what your Creator knows and be equal with Him!’ According to my math the total population in the Garden of Eden, at this time, was two, which means the vote was unanimous in favor of Lucifer’s erroneous ideology. They then ratified their choice by chomping down on some of the forbidden fruit…well, obviously we can’t fix stupid, so there you have it…game over!

This was a very sad day for the Creator as He was forced to make good on His punishment promise, so Adam and Eve were cursed for their disobedience. Part of that curse was they were driven out of their special garden paradise, and thus denied access to The Tree of Life, which by the way, was their only source for continued immortality (yes, you are reading that correctly, and yes, it means Adam and Eve were originally created mortal…to those claiming otherwise, read Genesis 3: 22-24 very carefully). Being deprived of their access to immortal fruit meant that Man would now have to experience death. The real fly in the ointment, was that Man was now exposed to evil knowledge, which meant that Lucifer was instantly granted rulership-by-proxy, with unbridled freedom to prosecute the horrible nature of evilness upon unsuspecting humans. Of course, this also made him the ipso-facto master over Man’s subsequent prodigy.

The rest is history. For 6,000-plus years, Man has been painfully learning the lesson that he can never live happily and peacefully in a world where evil knowledge exists. This is especially true today as we witness powerful leaders, governing institutions, radical cults, and global manipulators embrace a steadily progressive and pervasive evil, fostering an ever-escalating malignant environment which can best summed up as the Hell-of-Earth!

On the flip side of the coin, the Bible does promise a day of reckoning will be coming! As stated before, the last days of the Millennium will witness the rise of a Satanic army composed of resurrected evil people, and it is likely this army will include living Millennial rebels who were never going to be happy in Eternity. For these tortured souls, life would be incredibly miserable because they were trapped in an upside-down world where evil thoughts and deeds were suppressed, absolute justice prevailed, and they were thus forced to take responsibility for their actions. For these individuals, the Millennium may very well be described as their Hell-of-Heaven!

Fortunately, this is not the end of the story…and this is where we cut to the chase! As stated above, the whole purpose of the Millennium is to provide an alternative environment that showcases the Creator’s ideology! Despite all the doom and gloom in the Book of Revelation, there is that one promise which parrots the query immortalized by Rodney King himself, “Can’t we all just get along?”

As it turns out, the answer to that question is a resounding YES, because the Creator has promised to physically suppress evil knowledge during the Millennium…in other words, bad thoughts will be totally blocked from our mind! Are you picking up what I’m putting down here folks? It means voilà…Man will instantly be returned to his original creative state and encouraged to blossom in an environment dominated by love and justice, rather than fear and uncertainty!

Think about this for a moment; how different would our daily lives be in a global lifestyle where greed, envy, pride, and jealousy did not exist! The burning question I want to ask King Jesus is why Lucifer gets 6,000-plus years for his wacko ideology, while God only reserves 1,000 years to showcase His idea of a perfect existence?

Here is the catch; living the good life in the Millennium will only be experienced and appreciated by those who confess the hopelessness of their evil nature and accept Jesus as their Savior. Unfortunately, this has to happen in the present world where so-called intellectuals actively seek to discredit the Bible as a “comic book” and self-righteous cynics peg Christianity as something only old people take seriously when one foot in the grave and the other is on a banana peel!

By sacrificing Himself on the cross, Jesus, the Son of God, became Man’s representative and legal counsel. But this free community service offer can only be redeemed by individuals if they choose to accept it. This is called the Grace Message and it goes without saying, the sooner you accept this offer, the better!

According to most Judeo-Christian theologians, accepting the Grace Message is a matter of personal faith based on the validity of the Christ story. I, for one, did not take this faith-based solicitation lightly. Faith is a challenging word for me, and I tend to bristle up like a Blowfish whenever someone insists that something must be accepted on faith alone. This is especially true whenever I hear the word deployed, like a verbal shotgun blast of shallow clichés, aimed at terminating a fresh point of view which threatens to challenge traditional comfort zones.

For me Faith is simply a metaphorical band-aid used to temporarily cover a wound opened by a probing statement or thought-provoking question. If my curiosity is piqued I immediately don my propeller cap and crash dive into the literary depths of digital search engines and local libraries. I engage several prayer meetings with my best friend, King Jesus, and I surface for air only after the word faith has been replaced by a self-evident and defensible hypothesis. I will always keep an open mind and welcome new ideas but that comes with the mutual understanding that you had better be able to defend your ideas with methodical research and sound logic, not emotional tantrums. If you want an argument or a debate, talk to the hand…if you want a thought provoking, quid pro quo, discussion, then I am your huckleberry!

So now that we have laid the ground work for the purpose of the Millennium I say we take this out for a spin and explore what life would be like, in an almost perfect world. A world where daily life is exhilarating, the good guys reign supreme, and the bad guys, despite all their cunning and deceptive planning, are systematically suppressed and confounded, before they have a chance to translate their evil thoughts into deeds.

Before we begin it is important for the reader to understand that, to my conscious knowledge, I have not been the recipient of any extraordinary communication in the form of, near-death-experiences, divine visitations, prophetic visions, or out-of-body experiences, which might be considered a spiritual mandate to evangelize to the world. I am a creative individual, driven by an insatiable curiosity and the scintillating prospect of fresh frontiers to explore. Above this, I maintain a humble and reverent respect for a Creator who seems driven by similar attributes. I see this so perfectly manifested in the wondrous creation of Man, as well as the astonishing beauty and complexity of the Cosmos He has given us to inhabit.

Perhaps the primary purpose and motivation behind this endeavor is conveyed by the fond memories I recalled as a small boy, impatiently waiting to open that big present sitting under the Christmas tree. I can still feel the unrestrained excitement and expectation pulsing through my body, as I yearned to tear off the wrappings, toss the lid aside, and discover what was in the box.

To this day, I relive those same sensations, as I study and contemplate what our Creator has in store for us during and after the Millennium. I long to experience, first hand, what life will be like after King Jesus returns us to a state of perfection and places us in a recreated environment specially designed to maximize our attributes while basking in the companionship of His unquenchable love. Of course, current mortal timelines limit us to our sentient present, thus we are unable to predict, with any degree of accuracy, what our future might look or feel like. To dream about this kind of adventure requires thinking outside the box!

BloodPath, is a conjectural exploration of life during the Millennial Reign. The essence of our journey is revealed through the adventures and experiences of one Armageddon survivor who was buried alive and thus did not personally witness the Second Coming of Christ or the final moments of the pivotal battle fought on the plains of Megiddo. He is a professed Atheist with a pugnacious and antagonistic spirit. He routinely challenges authority and his peers fear him because he possesses extraordinary physical and mental capabilities, thus projecting a ruthless and obtuse image to his counterparts. He is focused, calculating, and relentless when orchestrating resources to achieve his objectives, but avoids official ceremonies or public approbation. Secretly, he desires to gain the genuine respect of others as an equal.

During the quiet hours, while alone with his conscience, he dreams only to be loved and accepted by family and friends. But herein lies an insurmountable quandary because, to his knowledge, he has no heretical background! He possesses no memories of a father or mother; of brothers or sisters, or even childhood companions. To make matters worse, he is frequently awakened by hellish nightmares, suggesting that he was once the genetic synthesis of hybrid transhuman experimentation…a test-tube baby. This drives his Atheistic nature, because it fundamentally challenges acceptance within a divinely created human race, thus jeopardizing any promise or hope of an Eternity spent with its Creator.