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Recap / Left Behind Book 10: The Remnant

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As Petra survives Nicolae Carpathia's bombing attack, a small contingent of Tribulation Force members go on a rescue mission to retrieve George Sebastian from the Global Community agents who were holding him hostage. However, the Global Community eventually find out that Chicago, a Ghost City that has been deemed irradiated from World War III, has actually been used as a headquarters for the Tribulation Force, so Chang Wong after learning of this warns the Tribulation Force and another group of believers called The Place to leave the city before it is nuked. During the course of the story, the Third through Fifth Bowl Judgments take place, and things grow from bad to worse as the world heads for its ultimate confrontation with God at the battle of Armageddon.

This story provides examples of:

  • Anarchy Is Chaos: What Tsion Ben-Judah believes is going to happen around the time of the Bowl Judgments when poverty is rampant and law and order have become relics, with common citizens arming themselves for fear of thieves, rapists, and terrorists and no longer having any trust in the Global Community protecting them (even the Peacekeepers have resorted to extortion).
  • Big Blackout: The Fifth Bowl Judgment, which supernaturally plunges New Babylon in thick black darkness in which nobody but believers can see any light, although there is still electrical power present. The blackout lasts for a whole year until an angel of the Lord illuminated the city long enough to warn God's people to get out of New Babylon before it is destroyed. Even worse for Carpathia's loyalists is that, during the blackout, they also suffer pains and sores for which there is no relief.
  • Blood Is Squicker in Water: The Third Bowl Judgment turns all the fresh water springs into blood, causing those who have taken the Mark of the Beast and have worshiped Carpathia's image to die of dehydration. Fortunately for believers, they can still get clean drinking water from the bloody springs.
  • Crapsack World: Tsion Ben-Judah's summation of the condition of the world when the Fourth Bowl Judgment hits. In addition to that, the severe depopulation of the world in that period means there's very few skilled people left to do service work to keep things from falling apart.
  • Driven to Suicide: Steve Plank's assistant Vasily Medvedev commits suicide when Plank decides to become a martyr.
  • Do Not Adjust Your Set: Chang Wong interrupts the Global Community network feed with a message from Tsion Ben-Judah before his televised debate with Leonardo Fortunato, annoying Nicolae Carpathia to no end.
  • Doomed Hometown: Chicago gets nuked in this story.
  • Dressing as the Enemy: The Tribulation Force members, in both their rescue of George Sebastian and also the incident in the desert outside Petra with the demonic miracle worker.
  • Euphemism Buster: When Steve Plank as Pinkerton Stephens turns down taking the Mark of the Beast and accepts the alternative of death, the Global Community staff person working at the mark application site was just about to refer to the guillotine as the "loyalty enforcement facilitator" when Steve interrupts and refers to it as "the guillotine".
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Viv Ivins is still in the doghouse following what she did in the Jewish Temple in Desecration, but by the end of the book all is forgiven between her and Nicolae Carpathia.
  • Faith–Heel Turn: The mob of remnants who visited a GC-backed Miracle Worker outside the safety of Petra. Many end up taking the Mark of the Beast in order to save their own lives against an incoming swarm of poisonous vipers, but the false teacher kills them all anyway.
  • Flat Joy: Mentioned in the story is a mandatory parade that Carpathia loyalists hold for their leader that turns out to be entirely mirthless, as everybody in the parade simply goes through the motions of praising Carpathia.
  • Frank's 2000 Inch TV: A screen several stories high so that Petra residents could watch and read Tsion Ben-Judah's teachings makes its debut here.
  • Global Warming: The Fourth Bowl Judgment cranks up the sun's power to lethal levels, killing animals and anyone who doesn't have the "seal of God" on their foreheads. It also raises the sea levels as the polar icecaps melt.
  • Happiness Is Mandatory: In response to the growing opposition against Nicolae Carpathia from among those who have taken the Mark of the Beast, Carpathia demands that his people worship him at all times with mandatory parades in his honor. The people end up responding with Flat Joy.
  • I Know Your True Name: The demonic miracle worker tries to pull this trick on Mac McCullum after he slays the defectors from Petra with deadly snakes, but it doesn't work.
  • Immune to Bullets: The area around Petra proves to be ineffective for the Global Community armed forces to shoot down Tribulation Force aircraft, as even rockets pass through without harm.
  • I Need to Go Iron My Dog: When Mac McCullum asks Abdullah Smith if he could make a delivery run to bring some important equipment to Petra, Abdullah tries to make a bunch of excuses that sound like typical things a woman might say that may delay such an errand, only to then tell Mac that it was all a joke. Mac is vaguely amused.
  • Man on Fire:
    • The people of Petra during the bombing run...except that, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they are supernaturally protected from the flames.
    • Chang Wong's co-worker Lars and a young woman are both consumed in flames when the Fourth Bowl Judgment begins.
    • Some GC officers doing a crackdown in China try to avert this during the same judgment by wearing fire-retardant suits in the daytime, only for the suits to burst into flames along with the officers inside them.
  • Murder by Cremation: Suhail Akbar sends the two pilots who bombed Petra (which had failed due to God protecting the city and the people) to be incinerated alive. He does sedate them before barbecuing both men.
    • Subverted by Carpathia's attempt to barbecue the Jewish Remnant in Petra, as they were protected by God.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Nice job getting the Greek Co-Op wiped out, George!
  • No Name Given: The miracle worker who led people out of Petra to be killed in the wilderness wasn't given any name in the main series. In The Kids spinoff series, however, he is referred to as Orcus.
  • Pre-Mortem One-Liner: In the Dramatic Audio, George Sebastian delivers one to Elena right before the coup de grâce. Double points for George as he delivered it Good News, Bad News style.
    George: "Well, Elena, the good news is...I'm not dead. The bad news is...you are!" (SNAP)
  • Put on a Bus: The people from The Place, from this book until Glorious Appearing.
  • Rivers of Blood: The Tribulation Force sees that the rivers have been turned to blood due to the Third Bowl Judgment. Later on with the Fourth Bowl Judgment, there are boiling rivers of blood.
  • Time Skip: A few time skips take place, bringing the story from the middle of the Tribulation to about just a year before the Glorious Appearing.
  • Translator Microbes: From this story on, all believers are able to communicate with each other in their own languages and be understood perfectly by each other.
  • You Can See That, Right?: Mac McCullum sees the Archangel Michael beckoning him to come down to the river near a water dam in India. He asks his companions Abdullah Smith and Albie if they also see him, and Abdullah says it's probably a "cowboy marriage" (he meant "mirage").

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