Tim Lahaye & Bob Philips - Babylon Rising 01 - Babylon Rising

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An impossible escape from the jaws of death . . .

The secret of a Biblical prophecy revealed . . .

A loved one brutally attacked . . .

Forces of terrifying evil empowered . . .

A man of surprising courage is tested and proves ready

To become a much-needed hero for our times . . .

And that’s just the beginning . . .

BABYLON RISING

BABYLONRISING

A Bantam Book / October 2003

Published by Bantam Dell

A Division of Random House, Inc.

New York,New York

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the

productof the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to

actualpersons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Book design byLynnNewmark

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any

means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,

orby any information storage and retrieval system, without the

writtenpermission of the publisher, except where

permittedby law.

Bantam Books is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., and the

colophonis a trademark of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging in-Publication Data

LaHaye,TimF.

Babylonrising /TimLaHayeandGregDinallo.

p. cm.

ISBN 0-553-80322-0

1. Biblical scholars-Fiction. 2. Archaeologists-Fiction. I.Dinallo ,GregoryS.

II. Title.

PS3562.A315B33 2003

813'.51-dc22 2003060812

Manufactured in theUnited States of America

Published simultaneously inCanada

10 9 8 7 6 5 1 3 2 1

BVG

Scanned byjmf

Dedicated to:

GENERALLEWWALLACE, whose nineteenth-century classicBen-Hur , subtitledA Tale of theChrist,

taught me that fiction could be both thrilling and instructive at the same time and could appeal to both a

secular and a Christian audience. With more than six million copies in print and a stage play seen by more

than half a million people by the turn of the century, the book had an international audience and was

made into three movies: first, for the silent screen; second, in black and white; and then in 1959, William

Wyler's color classic, starring CharltonHeston , which elevated this story to one of the best-loved movies

of all time.

JERRYB.JENKINS, my co-author and partner in writing the Left Behind ® series, which has turned

into a publishing phenomenon, who worked with me to bring to the printed page my vision of a fictional

portrayal of Bible prophecy based on the book of Revelation. Together we proved that fiction with a

message was still possible in the twentieth century.

GREGDINALLO, my co-author for this book, who has helped to shape my vision of a fast-paced

action thriller for the twenty-first centurythat is based on Bible prophecies not covered in the Left Behind

® books.

And to the HEBREW PROPHETS, who saw, under divine inspiration, forecasts of world events so

necessary to know for those living in what they called "the time of the end," or what some modern

historians call "the end of history," which could occur in the early part of the twenty-first century.

A MESSAGE FROMTIMLAHAYE

Dear Reader:

Welcome to my new prophetic fiction series, Babylon Rising. I hope you will come to share my

tremendous enthusiasm about this first novel, which bears the series name, whether you are one of the

millions of readers who have read my Left Behind series (coauthored with Jerry B. Jenkins) or you are a

first--time reader of my fiction writing.

I am more excited aboutBabylon Rising thanany of my previous books. My prayer is that it will have

the same effect on the lives of readers as have the Left Behind® books.

The fantastic popularity of the Left Behind series (51 million in print and growing convinced me that

fiction is a powerful way for me to share with readers some of what I find so completely fascinating about

end times prophecies. Happily, readers were stimulated by the combination of great adventures and

important revelations.

Babylon Risingis my newest attempt to create another uniquely satisfying combination of suspense and

substance. I base this exciting story on the single most important prophecy in the Bible regarding

international events, one that is having an incredible impact on our society today.

Bible prophecies and their interpretation are clear signs of what our present and future hold for this

world, and they are a continuing basis for all of my writing. In theBabylonRisingseries, you will find some

truly fascinating and important material based on my continuing research on the prophecies of the Bible.

My hope is that you will not only findBabylon Rising a fascinating read, but that the series will help

you understand that end times prophecy could be fulfilled in our lifetime, and that it will help you make

sense of "the signs of the times" that we see being fulfilled internationally almost every time we watch

events unfold on television or read a newspaper.

The setting for Left Behind, as you probably know, starts with the rapture of the church and then takes

the world through the tribulation period, the millennial kingdom of Christ, and on into heaven.Babylon

Rising starts in our present time and moves forward to the rapture, one of the most exciting periods in the

history of the world.

To really make this a "grabber" of a novel, you will findBabylon Rising features a hero who faces

many of the challenges of our day that are familiar to all of us. That hero,MichaelMurphy, is one of the

real appeals of this series for me. I likeMurphysomuch, I named him after my son-in-law. There are many

wonders in our world, but many dangers as well, and I wanted to center this series on a hero who I think

is very engaging yet very real, and someone who is up to the task of confronting a rising tide of danger

throughout the books.

Murphyis a scholar in both archaeology and Biblical prophecy, but unlike other scholars, he is also a

complete adventurer and risk-taker when he is on the trail of ancient artifacts that can help to further

authenticate the truth of the Bible.Murphyis a man of action and a man of faith, a true hero for our

times-which is a good thing, because as you will see right from the start of this series,Murphywill begin to

confront a profound evil. An evil force he will soon discover has ensnared him in a countdown to what

the Bible calls "the time of the end."

I thank you for your interest in my work. Starting with this volume, my hope is that you come to feel as

I do that Babylon Rising is a real page-turning series that manages to be both a totally absorbing story

and extremely relevant to our times.

Wishing you a great reading experience, I now give youBabylonRising!

ONE

EXACTLY THIRTY-THREE HOURS and forty-seven minutes after he had last been in church,

MichaelMurphywas hurtling through a terrible dark abyss. Prayer had never seemed more necessary to

him than at that moment. In pitch blackness, with the only sound thewhoosh of his body falling through

the air,Murphyhad no idea where he was heading.

Except down.Quickly.All six feet three inches of him.

Just a moment ago,Murphyhad been standing on the rooftop of what appeared to be an abandoned

warehouse on a desolate street inRaleigh,North Carolina. It was an unusual place for him to be on a

Monday night during the university semester, when he normally would be preparing for his next day's

lecture.

Yet it took only one word to make him drop all normal activities and race to this dank and deserted

height. Granted, that word was in Aramaic, one of the many ancient languagesMichaelMurphycould read

with some fluency.

The Aramaic letters had been penned with elaborate style in a bright blue ink that had seeped deeply

into a thick, expensive ivory-tinted paper stock that had been wrapped with great care and tied up by a

translucent ribbon around a heavy stone.

A stone that came crashing through the lower window of Murphy's campus office late that afternoon.

Whoever threw the stone into his office had disappeared by the timeMurphygot to the window. As he

unwrapped the paper and translated the single word that appeared there, he first stared, then began to

count.

Thirty seconds until his office phone rang. He knew what voice he would hear at the other end of the

line, although he had never seen the face to go with that voice.

"Hello, Methuselah, you old scoundrel."

There was a high cackling laugh inanswer, a sound Murphy would recognize anywhere. "Oh, Murphy,

you never disappoint me. I take it I've piqued your interest."

"And cost me a replacement window." He looked down again at the single word on the paper. "Is this

for real?"

"Murphy, have I ever let you down?"

"Nope.You've tried your weird best to kill me several times, but let me down, never. When and

where?"

The cackling now was replaced by a tongue-clucking. "Now, don't rush me, Murphy.My rules.My

time.My game. But trustme, this will be the best ever.For me, anyway."

"Then, I assume that, as before, no sane man would take you up on this challenge?"

"Only an eager lad like yourself.But as always, you have my word. Yousurvive, you get what you

came for. And trustme, you'll want to survive for this prize."

"I always want to survive,Methuselah. Unlikeyourself , to me life is a precious thing."

The old man snorted. "Not so precious that you won't come sniffing like an eager dog after this bone

I've just tossed you. But enough chatter.Tonight.Nine-seventeen. Be on the roof of the warehouse at

Eighty-three Cutter PlaceinRaleigh. And take my advice,Murphyboy. If you do come, and I know you

will, make the most of these last few hours."

With another cackle, the line went dead.

Murphyshook his head, put down the receiver, and picked up the paper. He double-checked his

translation. This time, the name he read set his mind racing even faster than before.

ForMichaelMurphy, a scholar who could not confine himself to library stacks of dusty, ancient tomes,

an archaeologist dedicated to hunting and rescuing artifacts that could authenticate events from the pages

of the Bible, this was the name of the prophet who was guaranteed to intrigue him more than any other:

D A N I E L

For the rest of the day,Murphycould think of little else besides speculating about his nighttime

rendezvous with Methuselah. It had been approximately two years sinceMurphyhad first been contacted

by this eccentric figure. Each time, without warning, and without ever showing his face,Methuselahwould

get a message to Murphy, always a single word in an ancient language that would turn out to be the name

of one of the books of the Bible.

This would be followed within a minute by cryptic directions, always to some deserted location, where

Methuselahwould watch from a secure hiding place and taunt him whileMurphywould try to survive some

very real, very deadly physical challenge.

The risk of death was very high and very real each time.Methuselahwas seemingly as serious about his

sadistic games as he was about the scholarship behind his finds. And apparently he had enough money

not only to sponsor the acquiring of the artifacts but to indulge his wildest ideas to lureMurphyinto the

most elaborate death traps. Would he actually allow Murphy to die if it ever came to that? So far, each

timeMurphyhad come extremely close to losing his life, and each time he had no doubt that Methuselah

would have let him die.

Yet, despite two broken ribs, a fractured wrist, and too many scars to recall, Murphy had so far

somehow managed to muster all of his considerable abilities to stay alive long enough to claim his prize.

And what prizes they had been. Three artifactsMurphynever would have seen in any other way. Each

proven with laboratory tests to be genuine, yet Methuselah never uttered a word about his sources.

There were lots of issues that plaguedMurphyabout these mad, whirlwind chases, but each timeMurphy

went public with the artifacts, no organization, government, or individual collector had come forward to

claim they had been stolen.

So, however and from where Methuselah was getting his occasional treasures, they had proven to be

just that.

Methuselahremained a complete mystery to Murphy. To say he was eccentric would not begin to

explain his actions. The man was clearly a scholar of ancient artifacts, yetMurphycould find no trace of

where he came from or how he found these artifacts that any archaeologist would drool for. It was

especially mystifying whyMethuselahdid not keep these treasures for himself, or for a museum, or why he

chose his really strange games to giveMurphya chance to claim them.

As a man of high integrity,Murphybelieved he could overlook some potential gray areas regarding the

source of these artifacts. Some wealthy, connected, but truly mad collector was as close asMurphycould

come to an explanation of who Methuselah was. However, there was the troubling religious aspect.

Methuselahwas clearly not a religious man.Quite the opposite. A good deal of the pleasureMethuselah

seemed to get from these challenges was to tauntMurphyabout his faith. So far,Murphyhad been up to

every challenge, and he had to admit that in addition to getting the artifacts, part of what drove him was

the chance to defy Methuselah's nasty verbal insults about Murphy's faith.

Which was hardly a justification for his risking his life, Murphy realized.However, pride, temper,

stubbornness were all high on the list ofMichaelMurphy's imperfections. Probably Murphy's greatest

reservations about his Methuselah adventures were a result of his deep religious faith, which made it far

more difficult to justify the extreme risk to his life and limb.

Justify the risk not merely to himself, but to his wife,Laura.

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摘要：

Animpossibleescapefromthejawsofdeath...ThesecretofaBiblicalprophecyrevealed...Alovedonebrutallyattacked...Forcesofterrifyingevilempowered...AmanofsurprisingcourageistestedandprovesreadyTobecomeamuch-neededheroforourtimes...Andthat’sjustthebeginning... BABYLON RISIN...

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