swords, chariots, horses and horsemen, archers, siegeworks, and warriors—but never a war in which vessels appeared in the skies ‘as birds flying’ to help bring about its preservation and deliverance . . . until the war of 1917.
“You know of the parashas,” said the Oracle, “the appointed words read from the scrolls on the Sabbath day. But there are other appointed words, other appointed Scriptures. And they aren’t found in scrolls but in a book—The Book of Common Prayer. The book was originally written in the sixteenth century for the Anglican Church. It contains Scriptures appointed not only for each week but for every day, every morning, and every night. So for whom were those Scriptures appointed?”
“For those of the Anglican Church, I would assume.”
“And which army would be filled with those of the Anglican Church?” he asked.
“The army of General Allenby, the British army.”
“Exactly. And undoubtedly many of the soldiers in that army would open up that book every morning to read the appointed Scripture. It was December 8, 1917, the last full day of fighting in the battle for Jerusalem. When the fighting was over, Jerusalem would be preserved and delivered. There was a Scripture in The Book of Common Prayer appointed hundreds of years earlier to be read on the last day before Jerusalem’s deliverance. Do you know what it was?”
“What was it?”
“It was this:
As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it.” 4
“The deliverance of Jerusalem,” I said, “as birds flying, appointed for that very day!”
“And read that day throughout the British Empire, all over the world, and by the British soldiers who were about to deliver Jerusalem.”
“A Jubilee of wings.”
“And those who flew over the Holy Land at the time of its deliverance were of the No. 14 Squadron. The squadron had a motto. Do you know what it was?”
“No.”
“It was:
I spread my wings and keep my promise. 5
“And yet there’s more,” said the Oracle. “On December 9, 1917, the day of Jerusalem’s liberation, there was another word appointed in The Book of Common Prayer.”
“What was it?”
“It was a prophecy that speaks of a day when distress will come to Jerusalem, when the city will be threatened with warfare. But the prophecy foretells that Israel’s enemies will be defeated. They will flee the land. Jerusalem will be delivered. And His people will dwell there, inside its walls, in peace. On the day it was appointed to be read, Jerusalem was delivered, the Ottoman Empire was defeated, the Ottoman soldiers would flee the city, and God’s people would dwell inside the walls in peace. The appointed word included this verse:
Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts; Your eyes will see Jerusalem . . . 6
“Zion is another name for Jerusalem. The word speaks of seeing Jerusalem. So on the morning of the appointed word British soldiers in the land of Israel opened up The Book of Common Prayer to find the appointed word telling them to look upon the city of Jerusalem. And it was on that day that it would come true. They would enter its gates for the first time and behold the city.
“The next day, December 10, was a day of rejoicing and comfort, not only for Jerusalem’s liberation but for the fact that Jerusalem’s warfare had ended. The word appointed for that day was an ancient prophecy from the Book of Isaiah, words that foretold a day of God’s comforting His people and His city when Jerusalem’s warfare has come to its end . . .
“Comfort. . . comfort my people!” says your God. “Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her that her warfare is ended.” 7
“And so it was appointed to be read on the very day that Jerusalem’s warfare had ended.”
“When I saw the Oracle again, he would reveal to me the number of the end.”
“The end of . . . ?”
“The end of an age.”
“Did it come from the prophets?”
“Yes, but it would be given to those who had never read the prophets.”
“How?”
“Through a coin.”
Chapter 22
THE NUMBER OF THE END
I RETURNED TO the Oracle to ask him for the meaning of the angel who stood by the river with the coin.”
“The prophet Daniel,” he said, “was also taken to the bank of a river, where he saw a man much like the one who appeared in your vision. The man told him of things yet to come and of that