The Valley of Dry Bones Read Online Free

but nothing on this scale.
    Suddenly the voice rang clear in his ear again, “That was My doing.”
    Great. He was losing his mind. Should he be surprised? It hadn’t taken long for the most populous state in the union to become the least populous. Sane people? Gone. Yet here he was with a small crew of holdouts as fanatical as he. As cathartic as this meeting was, remembering how God had used such tragedy to bring them all together, all he wanted now was for it to be over so he could get Alexis alone and tell her.
    But what would he say?
I’m hearing voices
? Problem was, it was more than that. What about those phantom touches? At least this time he kept from jumping and causing everyone else to panic. What would Lexi think? All she needed was a husband with his crazy on.
    Zeke saw dust on the horizon and hoped it meant only a breeze. He turned back when the room fell silent. Mahir’s hand was in the air. “Excuse me, Zeke,” he said, a hint of French still in his tone. “You don’t look so good. Want me to watch so you can sit down?”
    â€œYes,” Doc said, leaning forward and peering at him. “You all right, Zeke?”
    â€œSure, I’ll sit. Thanks.”
    As Mahir moved past him, Zeke whispered, “Keep an eye on the horizon, see?”
    When Zeke sat, Sasha slid next to him and laid her head on his shoulder, which moved him. He hoped whatever was tormenting him would not be obvious. She caressed his back. “You all right, Daddy?”
    He nodded, but almost immediately something forced him straight up and pressed him back in his chair. Without meaning to, he had pushed his daughter aside. Zeke tried to make it appear as if he were just shifting his weight, so he kept his eyes on Katashi and casually draped his arm around Sasha, fighting to maintain composure. The hand in his lap balled into a fist so tight his knuckles were white and his biceps quivered.
    And here came the voice again.
    â€œListen to Me! I am that I am.”
    Lord! It’s You?
    â€œMy mercy is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Me, and to those who remember My commandments. I have established My throne in heaven, and My kingdom rules over all. Listen to Me! Hear Me!”
    Zeke lurched forward again, elbows on his knees, head in his hands, tears streaming, praying silently,
I hear You, Lord! I’m listening!
    â€œDaddy!” Sasha whispered, and Zeke heard Pastor Bob approach and lay a hand on his back.
    â€œLet’s give Zeke a minute. He’s told us he’s all right, but benchmark anniversaries like these are hard, and you never know how they’re going to affect you. Let’s pray. Father, be with our brother in a special way, we ask in the name of Your Son. Amen.”
    Zeke thought that might have been one of the least necessary entreaties in history. For God was saying to him even then, “And it shall come to pass in the last days that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams.
    â€œAnd on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven and signs in the earth: blood and fire and smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
    â€œAnd it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

3
DEATH BRINGS LIFE
    E ZEKIEL T HORPPE WAS NOT from a tradition comfortable with outward manifestations of the Spirit of God, let alone dramatic ones. He didn’t quarrel with those who went in for that sort of thing, though he suspected much of it was exaggerated.
If they were raised that way
, he thought,
fine, let’s consider it a “distinctive” or a “denominational preference,” certainly nothing over which to split hairs or