Chaim's transformation was complete. He had grown from a harmless, respectable pacifist to become the leader of a movement that was now implicated in the deaths of hundreds of millions of people. And he had the audacity to say that all of it had happened and was happening in obedience to his God.
Dangchao too had changed dramatically over the space of a few short years. And he too, had been responsible for the deaths of mil ions. The difference was that Dangchao had used his political influence to wreak death and destruction and he had done it to satisfy his own evil whims; while Chaim had acted only as a mouthpiece for a superhuman Director.
Chaim had grown into this relationship merely by "listening"... first to a dream, then to his conscience, circumstances, the wisdom of others, the Bible, and finally to revelations that he had received while worshipping. The change had been gradual, and each step had led naturally to the next, as fellow Quakers had warned him would happen from the start. But he could not find a single point at which it would have been right for him to resist the leadings of the Spirit that he had been experiencing.
More than anything else, what consoled and consolidated Chaim in his position was reality... his experience in the real world. Just as Watchman had pointed out to him in the cave: When things happen... when people die... it ceases to be a theological argument about whether or not God has a right to do such and such, and it becomes a matter of whether we are going to let those experiences draw us closer to God or drive us farther away.
In his case, he had been drawn closer to God. His understanding of who God is and what God expects of us was deeply challenged. He discovered a God who was bigger than the tiny seed that resided in his own intellect and emotions. He learned that this God had a plan for the human race… a real plan… an objectively measurable plan. And it had been recorded in prophecy.
The plan did not deny the differences that exist in belief systems around the world; but it did identify a time when all of those belief systems would need to be thrown into one cosmic blender, where they would each be broken by the grinding wheels of God's final authority. That was exactly what he had seen happening all over the world in the past seven years, both in his own life, and in the lives of everyone else on the planet.
As the Great Tribulation neared its end, the numbers of people leaving Dangchao to join the Saints gradually died out. The great division had been completed, and both sides had become locked into their final decisions.
However, even some of the last people to join the Saints did so with only a vague understanding of what it was and why it was that they were joining. They were sickened by the stench of unbridled evil that came from Dangchao's rule, and they were inspired by the faith of the Tribulation Saints; but they had little understanding of God, and even less appreciation for what it was that the Tribulation Saints expected as the final outcome of all this suffering. Earlier attempts to educate those who first joined the movement were overwhelmed by the flood that came in during the middle stages, so that organisation near the end was largely ineffectual under the parallel waves of new members and new killings. Still, they came, and because it was a decision that they knew would cost them their lives, it was seen by the Twelve Tribes as reason enough to believe that a genuine transformation had taken place in their hearts.
In the final few weeks, even the inner sanctum of the Twelve Tribes was compromised, leading to the deaths of some of the movement's top leaders.
Those who remained prayed for strength and counted the days to the end.
Chaim had a final tearful meeting with Molly and Bess just before he successful y stowed away on a flight to Tel Aviv. They met at the St. George's River Rowing Club, within walking distance of the international terminal. He shared with Molly and Bess the sad news that Vaishnu and Ben had been taken in Delhi and were probably being tortured as they spoke. Geoffrey Baum had managed to escape and pass the news on to Chaim, although Baum himself was on the run now and would probably not be able to give any further reports.
They all knew that it would only be a matter of days before the end of all their suffering, but it was still sad to see the movement disintegrating. Chaim -– not one who was given to tears -- broke down and wept openly with the two Aboriginal women, hugging them repeatedly, and assuring them of his love before he headed off walking toward the airport. He was about to board a flight that he knew would take him to his death.