Character Interviews for A Half Hour of Silence

An Interview with Professor Stephen Ben-Yosef

An Interview with Quinton Morfran, Deputy Secretary-General of the UN

An Interview with Satan

Yes, that's right, Lucifer is featured in my book, Half Hour of Silence. How could I not include the most consequential Anti-Christ of them all in a book about the Last Days? The scriptures tell us how Satan rebelled against God in the beginning and that he continues that conflict with us today. One thing to remember as you read this interview, Satan is not called the great deceiver for nothing. He is a slippery fellow and skirted around the truth during our conversation, was vague and loose with many of the facts, and spoke in half-truths when not outright lying. So, for what it's worth here in my interview with Satan:

What can I say, I was frightened. Even though I had written about the Adversary in my book, I never expected to meet him. So why did I set up this appointment with Lucifer? How else can I tell the story of the final battle between Jehovah and His arch-enemy, Satan, without including the lord and master of all those trying to defeat God and conquer this world by enslaving all mankind?

As I awaited his arrival, I looked down at my notes with shaking hands and contemplated how to address several touchy subjects in my notes. I had been debating for weeks on how to approach this interview. Do I throw softball questions at him and let him speak or take a more confrontational approach? If I do that how will he react?

I almost jumped out of my chair when I heard a knock at my office door. My eyes whipped to the door, expecting to see an evil apparition with horns and a tail drift through my office door. After a stunned silence, the knock returned, not loud or impatient but light and almost musical. What the heck…Yeah exactly. Hell has arrived.

I slowly got up, and with trepidation, walked to the door, and paused at the door handle. Open it then, I ordered my immobile hand and arm. As I reached out the door handle turned of its own accord. My heart beat faster as an unseen hand pushed the door open. In the doorway stood a man of large stature, handsome, well dressed and with a bright smile on his face.

"Ye…Ye…Yes," I stammered, "may I help you?"

A corner of my visitor's mouth quirked up as his head cocked to one side. "I have an appointment with…," he looked down at a slip of paper, "JK Sellers," he said looking up with a warm smile. "Is that you?"

My knees turned to butter. Good thing too, because I wanted to run. Then a thought occurred to me. Of course, he knows who I am. His deception was perfect and disarming. I suppose he wants me relaxed, I thought. It didn't work.

"That's me," I said and automatically reached my hand out in numb auto reaction. My visitor looked down at my hand, not extending his own. His smile grew.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," I said withdrawing the hand. He doesn't have a body, dooffus, I said to myself. How can I shake his hand?! He appeared and acted so real. As if he did have a body. In the back of my mind I wondered. Can I touch him? I didn't want to find out.

"Please come in," I finally said.

I walked around the desk and sat heavily in my chair before my legs could give out. I somehow felt reassured once I sat in my chair. It's not every day you get to meet the Son of Perdition.

My visitor approached one of the leather chairs nearby and slowly sat, or he appeared too. He surveyed the office briefly and didn't blanch or even react to the many bibles and religious tomes on my bookshelves, he just nodded as if it was as he expected.

"So, what do I call you?" I asked. "Which name do you prefer? Satan, Lucifer, the Dragon, Father of all lies?" His eyes hardened at the last two, but his smile never left his face.

My friends call me Heylel, 'Son of the Morning'," he responded, his eyes piercing into my soul.

I shivered uncomfortably. Play along and see where this goes, I told myself.

"Alright… 'Heylel', would you like to say anything before we begin?" Satan nodded amiably.

"I am grateful that you have given me the opportunity to set the record straight," he began. "My Enemy and his sycophants have not been totally truthful or honest in the records about me and my followers here on earth. The Bible," he said as if using a swear word, "is full of lies and superstitions. Written by crude, barbaric and power-hungry men yearning to enslave the people with its lies. In the beginning, it was Jehovah and his sycophants who were the traitors, not me. They rebelled and overthrew me and exiled me to earth."

"Wait," I said sitting straighter in my chair, taken aback. "So, it was you who ruled Heaven and not the Father?!"

"Of course," he said with a flourish of his well-manicured hand. "Jehovah persuaded two thirds of the angels to follow him and took the throne of heaven from me."

I was stunned into silence. His 'recollection' was like a story from one of the ancient Greek or Roman myths.

"Yes, it's true!" he said more forcefully. "Why would Jehovah and his prophets tell the truth of what really happened before the creation of the world. It is he and Michael who took the rule of Heaven away from me in the rebellion and banished me and my followers here to this small, out of the way, crude world. They were jealous of my power. They are the ones who corrupted the majority of the angels against me. Now I must fight from this pathetic planet to gain my rightful place."

"So, it wasn't you who rebelled against God but the other way around?" I said doubt dripping from my tongue.

"Exactly! Once I was exiled to earth," he said sweeping his arm wide, indicating the world about him, "I had to find a way to regain my throne."

"And how exactly do you plan to get it back. Aren't you stuck here?" I asked.

"For the short term yes," then his eyes turned to slits. Leaning forward he continued, "You do know why God put you people here in the first place?"

I shook my head. I had no clue what he meant. Nothing would surprise me coming from the Father of Lies.

He laughed. "Your eyes are not open. You don't see anything do you? Every god craves power and worshipers. Jehovah created this world to gain power. His power comes from those who worship him. The more worshipers, the more power. That's why he put those two dullards, Adam and Eve here. To start breading and having kids. More kids, more worshipers, and more power."

"Really?" I said, surprised at his statement. "That's hard to believe."

"It's true. He kept it a secret to keep the gullible and ignorant of how they're being used."

"Uh huh," I said doubtfully. "Is that why you had Adam and Eve disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit?" I said, playing along.

"Yes, the simpletons didn't realize that if they hadn't eaten the most delicious fruit on earth at the time, that they could never have had kids. It took a while, but I convinced them."

"So why did you want them to procreate?"

He looked at me like I was a dunce. "To turn the descendants of Adam and Eve against the false god, Jehovah, and toward me, the rightful god of the universe! Once in exile I had to work with Adam's progeny to regain my legitimate and proper place. I choose a group of intelligent and ambitious men and women to represent me among mankind," he said leaning back in the chair. "I named them my Mustirmahani (He pronounced it moost-ear-mah-han'-nee), 'The Keepers of the Great Secret'. Cain and then Lamech were the first of a long line of those I choose from among the worthiest of my followers to lead the battle against Jehovah and his ilk."

"But you have failed for what?...at least six thousand years now."

'I've come close several times," he said smile fading, waving a dismissive hand. "Four thousand years ago we almost succeeded. Me and my followers discovered that a cataclysm was approaching earth that would cause a deluge of water which would wash over the continents and wipe out all of humanity and animal kind. I instructed my followers to build a fleet of ships to save as many as we could. However, My Enemy launched a surprise attack against my people and destroyed all those ships except for one. That one he absconded and put his own people aboard."

"So, Moses' account of the Flood is wrong?" I asked incredulously.

"Oh Yes, that deceiver Moses, made up his fairytales in Genesis to enslave his people. I almost succeeded in my plans to reverse the course and turn men back to worship their true god but each time I was frustrated by that devious charlatan on the throne."

"Really?" My mind reeled at how Satan so easily twisted the truth. I could now see how he so easily deluded so many of God's Children.

"Yes! Jehovah's flunkies led the armies that took the ships, burned them and took the last one for his own people. Once the earth began to repopulate after the flood, I again began to gain prominence with the help of a new group of Mustirmahani. Jehovah became so jealous of my success of turning his own people against him that he again conspired to take from me my successes. They initiated a bloody civil war so terrible that the people scattered to every corner of the world to escape the turmoil."

"You mean like in the Tower of Babel?"

Satan laughed. "The only tower there was a ziggurat built to honor ME," he said pointing to his chest. "Me and my Mustirmahani had united all men after the devastation of the floodwaters. Nimrod, their leader gathered all the scattered tribes together and formed the great nation of Shinar. I understood and had learned over the millennia that man needs overseers to keep them in order. That the collective was more important than the individual. I, I created the first great civilization with cities and government, all united in the worship of one god, Me!" Satan declared, chin raised in exaltation.

"However, Jehovah, that traitor, once again fought against me. He caused a division amongst the people and scattered them to the winds. His plan was to so fracture what Nimrod had built and scatter the people that I would have great difficulty in uniting the people ever again."

"Me and my Mustirmahani have made many attempts to unite the world's population—the Persian Empire, Ming Dynasty, Rome, Greece, Babylon, Assyria, the Mongols, the Umayyad Caliphate; none were able to unite all of mankind as we had at Shinar. I alone understand the need for man to have intelligent and wise men to oversee their rule. Man is a base animal and needs supervision or he would destroy himself in chaos, destruction and death. Me and my Mustirmahani have attempted to bring order to the world and to watch over mankind. Indeed, in ancient times they were once called 'the Watchers': wise men to guide man and save him from himself. Our methods may seem cruel to you, but we do it for the love of all. It is the collective, the whole of mankind, we wish to save not just a few bootlickers and knee scrapers as Jehovah does. He only wants to save His own people and leave the rest to languish for eternity in perdition."

"Weren't you defeated when Jesus Christ fulfilled the prophecies by accomplished the atonement and breaking the chains of sin and death?" I asked.

Satan barked a laugh. "Your mythical Jesus was a fraud and died in misery on a Roman cross. It was his deluded followers who made up the stories of his coming back to life and teaching 'love' and 'peace'. It's all hogwash. He was a Jewish rebel who fought against Roman rule and died a painful and ignominious death."

I bristled at his irreverence but what else could I expect from Satan, the Prince of Darkness?

"So, what's your plan now?" I asked with derision.

"Isn't it obvious?" Satan said smiling, flipping his palm up in my direction. "You wrote about it in your book."

"Yes, but the Bible's prophecies have all come to pass," I countered, anger rising in my voice. Calm down, I thought, he's trying to get under your skin. "God has foreseen what happens in the last days. You will be defeated and cast into hell in the end when all is said and done."

"You're a fool, Sellers," Lucifer said leaning forward, his plastic smile finally leaving his face. His anger and hatred were ugly to behold.

"Look around you," Lucifer said, his voice rising. "I have caused Christians and Jews to lose faith in their so called 'religions'. Secularism has replaced your myths and false teachings. Modern society now scorns the banal Judeo-Christian platitudes of the Bible. No one swallows those old myths anymore, written down by desert nomads living in goatskin tents. The gullible dupes who still hang on to the fairy tales are being ostracized from modern, civilized men and soon will be exterminated once I regain my power."

"No, you're wrong Satan, you're losing this war," I said, pushing back. "Church attendance may be shrinking but the faithful who stay have stronger testimonies and faith than ever before. Where persecution occurs, faith grows, believe it or not. When those who witness the awful martyrdoms you have incited over the centuries, their faith grows even stronger. Your campaign of oppression and ridicule hasn't worked. All persecution does is separate the wheat from the chaff. Those who truly love God remember who sacrificed all so that they could return to live with Him. Just look at the 21 Coptic Christians who were martyred in Libya. The Church became stronger and more joined the church even though 21 of their fathers, husbands and brothers were beheaded publicly, in order to shame and frighten the rest. Your methods of the past have failed to suppress the faithful."

"Ah, but this time the world is a lot smaller place," Satan said with a tigerish grin. "Soon I will once again unit the world under wise leadership like I had in Shinar. No longer does it take months to travel to distant countries. Now any destination in the world is simply a few hours away. Nor does it take weeks, months, or even years to send a message around the world," Satan said, leaning back and crossing his legs, waving his hand at the laptop on my desk. "With today's technology, it is instantaneous. I can disseminate my truth to all the world in an instant."

"And what is that truth?" I challenged.

"That there is no God," he said dismissively. "That Jews and Christians are duped by shyster, millionaire preachers living off the gullible. Eventually they will all come to know their true God, me, and all will worship me."

"And if I and many others choose not to worship you?"

Satan sat back with an evil grin. "You know how that ends, Sellers. Afterall you, wrote about that too."

"Yes, I have your plans in the book. But there is another book that tells how you will lose in the end."

"All damnable lies!" Satan shouted, hands gripping the arms of his chair, losing all semblance of control. "Just myths! No one can see into the future! You are an insignificant fool, Sellers. No one will read your book, and no one will even read your joke of a 'Newsletter'," he sneered. "My plan is succeeding. There is no way to stop it now. I have total control over this world."

At that Satan rose, pushing his chair back and stood. His visage became dark and angry. As he rose to his feet, he grew in stature. His now shadowy form filled the darkening room. The walls dissolved as the figure grew to stand over me like an evil colossus looking down at an insect. I gaped into Lucifer's dwelling place, an infinite, inky-black darkness of nothingness. In the shadows appeared multitudes of Satan's followers, misshapen, brutish forms, vile and disgusting, clawed hands reaching out to me, teeth gnashing in silent screams.

Satan leaned his head back and roared with laughter. His eye fixed on mine. Deep within those dark eyes I saw only callous cruelty, a remorselessness born of the hatred he had nurtured over many millennia. Enormous clawed and deformed hands reached out to grasp my soul and take it back to the bottomless pit he had crawled out of. I felt the filthiness spread over my soul, as if a wave of dark sewage engulfed me in its filth. I fell to my knees, clasped my hands together and closed my eyes, Satan hovering far above me.

"So, you have come to your senses and have chosen to worship your true God," Satan exalted, a smug expression appearing on his face.

I could not speak. Darkness took form and embraced me in a hold so tight I could not breath.

I desperately prayed to God like no other time in my life. I concentrated through the haze of blackness to visualize the only one who could save me, Jesus the Christ, the Son of the Living God. A light, far away, appeared in the darkness. Within that light I could see the figure of the Savior suffering in the Garden. As the light grew closer the scene changed. I now saw his arrest and trial and how His own people unknowingly mocked their Messiah. I saw his torture and crucifixion and how he forgave his cruel Roman executioners. I saw his friends take down his body from the cross and hurriedly placed him in a tomb. The next scene showed the empty tomb, a neatly folded burial cloth lying on the cold stone bench. Jesus Christ, the first fruits of the resurrection, had risen! No more are we damned to Satan's clutches. We are free if we only follow and believe in the Savior. Death no longer held its sting. For all will be resurrected as he was. It was Jesus who defeated Satan two thousand years ago, breaking the chains of sin and death. There was nothing Lucifer could do about it. Well, except…. maybe…

I prayed more fervently now. Satan mustn't win! I thought of the many times God had blessed my life, the many occasions I had felt the confirming whisperings of the Holy Ghost. That God did live, that He blessed the lives of those who loved Him.

The love of God washed the darkness away. The room slowly brightened as the darkness fled. Lucifer cried out in frustration and his minions moaned in pain as they scampered away from the light of God's love and grace. Satan backed away, shrinking back down in size and dominance.

"I will win in the end, Sellers!" He said backing to the door. "You'll see! You and the rest of my Enemy's fawners will either bow to me in the end or die like all the others who have fought against me throughout time." He backed through the door and an echoing laugh filled the room.

Satan had gone. I could almost taste and smell the residue of his vileness. The room was totally silent. Still on my knees I again prayed to God. This time to thank Him for delivering me from the enemy of all mankind. After much prayer I felt a comforting reassurance come over me. It washed the room of the filthiness my visitor had left, leaving behind a bright and clean spirit.

I got up off my knees and heavily sat in my chair and breathed a sigh of relief.

I don't think I'll ever do that again! I thought sardonically.

An Interview with the Scoonovers

JK: Today we have the pleasure of having Lewis and Elly Scoonover in for an interview today. Thank you for coming.

Lew: I’m not sure why you wanted an interview with us, Mr. Sellers. I’m not even in your book, Half Hour of Silence, after all. You do realize that I die before I get a chance to even to speak one line. You should have someone like my grandson, Rick or one of his friends.

JK: Even though you aren’t ‘in’ the book, your influence is felt all throughout its pages and besides, your loving wife has a major role to play as well.

Elly: Oh, I don’t know about that. We just did our best to establish the farm and raise Rickie to be the best that he could. He began life with so many challenges.

JK: Oh? What were those?

Lew: Well, as you know, his father, my son-in-law, died back in ‘03 during the Iraq War. Rickie was just a toddler at the time. My daughter, Viviana, took Frank’s death pretty hard. She loved him very much you know. While Frank was deployed, she and Rickie had prayed on their knees every night that he would return home safe. When he was killed in Nasiriyah, Vivian lost all faith in God. I tried to explain to her that we must have trust in God and not lose faith in His plan for us. I reminded her that we all will be reunited in the afterlife and we will all be together for the eternities after the resurrection. She wouldn’t listen and was angry with God for taking her husband away and leaving her to raise Rickie alone.

Elly: Viv started drinking after that. A lot. When that didn’t help, she sought relief from hard drugs. After several years going downhill, Viv left Rickie with us and disappeared. Some friends in Vegas said they saw her panhandling on a street corner with another crackhead. We tried to find her. She kept moving around living in homeless shelters and on the street. Three years later, she was found dead…from an overdose in an alley.

JK: I’m sorry for you lose. What did you do?

Elly: We raised Rickie the best we could. He was an angry, bitter child for losing both parents. We had the farm and he loved animals. I think that’s what saved him from following in his mother’s footsteps.

JK: I'm happy you were able to help him. Let’s go back a little bit. Where did the both of you meet?

Lew: We met at a church dance while in high school back in New Mexico. We fell in love and were married a year later. That was before I joined the Marines.

JK: Why did you choose the Marines?

Lew: My father served in the Corps during WW II with Lewis Puller, the most decorated Marine in American history. In fact, my Dad named me after him.

JK: Where did you serve?

Lew: Mostly in the Pacific like my Dad. When I enlisted, Viet Nam was just beginning to heat up. After basic I signed up for Force Recon and was accepted. A year later I was sent to ‘Nam and did two full tours there.

JK: Two? Was that normal?

Lew: Depends. The real hard a…I mean the real hard-core guys did multiple tours. I know a Gunny who did five. At the end of my first full tour my Master Sergeant got me falling down drunk and talked me into signing up for a second tour.

JK: What was it like?

Lew: Unconventional jungle warfare is very difficult. You are not only fighting an unseen enemy who hides among the civilian populace, but you also must fight nature itself. It takes a toll. Fighting takes a toll…

[Long Pause]

Elly: Yes, it does. Lew came back a completely different man. The Lew I knew had died in those wet and savage jungles.

JK: You suffered from PTSD?

Lew: Yes…There are some things your mind just never gets over. Things you done and things you didn’t do. Guilt too. Yes. Guilt for things I did in that war. But there was a grinding guilt of leaving all those friends behind who died…one after another. I survived and they didn’t. I kept thinking: What could I have done to save them? Was it my fault they died? Something I did or didn’t do that got them killed? How could I face their wives and kids after leaving them behind?

JK: How did you overcome those feelings?

[Another Long Pause]

Elly: After Lew Got back home, I tried as best I could, but it wasn’t enough.

Lew: You know how stubborn I am Elly. After…I tried to kill myself, she sought help from a neighbor who was one of our ecclesiastical leaders. She had come to realize that she couldn’t do it alone, that we couldn’t. We needed help. We needed God’s help.

Elly: Vernon prayed with us. Lew needed to know God loved him no matter what he had done in the war and that He could heal all his pain and suffering. Christ suffered in the garden and the cross to take away our sins AND to relieve our suffering and pain.

Lew: I prayed Mr. Sellers and when I did, I felt a warm feeling fill my heart. The pain was lifted from me. I felt His love cover me like a warm blanket. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that God loved me. That began my rebirth. I changed completely.

JK: So, what did you do when you got back from Vietnam?

Lew: I thought about going back to school on the GI Bill. My father had died the year before and left me with a small inheritance. Instead of school, I took that money and bought a few hundred acres of farmland in a small valley in the middle of the Wasatch Range of Utah near the Rockies.

JK: Why Utah? Didn’t you grow up in New Mexico?

Lew: Yes. I wanted a safe place for my family, a safe haven from the world so to speak.

JK: Isn’t New Mexico safe? It’s not like you were living in a dangerous inner city or something.

Lew: No, ha-ha. No, New Mexico is a very safe place to live…for now.

One of my pastimes after leaving ‘Nam was studying the Bible. I got a lot of comfort from reading it. I also felt apprehension too. There are mountains of faith promoting stories in the Bible. However there are also warnings from God to flee Babylon and to go into the mountains scattered among the words of many prophets. The New Testament has a lot of references about bad things occurring in the end times and I believed they were well on their way. So, I left the mean streets of Albuquerque, ha-ha, and ‘fled’ to the mountains of Utah.

JK: Why Utah? Aren’t there mountains in New Mexico?

Lew: Well, yes there are.

When I read those passages, they bothered me for a long time. I prayed to God what I should do, where I should go to establish a refuge for my new family. So being a Marine, I took out a map of North America and looked for the most logical place to build that refuge. The Rockies quickly caught my eye. A high and formidable range of mountains that began in my state of New Mexico and rose high all the way up into Canada. That’s one mighty barrier, those mountains. The high valleys west of the Rockies are fertile with reservoirs up high in the canyons. To the West of those valleys is a dry desert that runs hundreds of miles to the Sierra mountains. The southern flank of these valleys is protected by the Grand Canyon and the Colorado river. In that area protected by The Rockies on the east and north, desert in the west and the Grand Canyon on the south you have farms, dairies, cattle ranches, herds of horses, oil, natural gas, iron, copper, precious metals, manufacturing, you name it. Everything a refuge from the coming storm would need.

JK: What makes you think we are in the end times. Hasn’t there been predictions about the end of the world since forever?

Elly: Of course there have been, silly. That doesn’t mean that Christ ain’t coming. We just don’t know when. Or at least we don’t know the day or year. But we can recognize the signs and they are coming more and more often.

JK: What signs have you seen lately?

Lew: You have God’s word being taught in every language and every country now. Even some Jews are starting to believe that Jesus is the Messiah or at least a great rabbi. Speaking of Jews, their return to the Promised Land and the establishment of the country of Israel is another prophecy that has been fulfilled even after all the attempts to stop it and destroy their tiny country. Wickedness has increased and people have left the Churches in droves and have lost faith. There are many more prophecies that have been fulfilled.

JK: So, you think the time is close? And if you do, how soon?

Lew: Jesus said that the signs of His second coming will be like birth pangs. Now if you’ve ever watched a baby being born you know that the birth pangs increase in intensity as well as frequency as the time gets closer to the actual birth. And so it will be with Jesus’ return.

JK: What do we look for? To know it’s near.

Lew: You have to read the back of the book to find out what’s going to happen.

JK: The Book of Revelation? Oh, I have Lew, but it is so confusing with all those weird animals and creatures and on top of that you have angels blowing trumpets and tipping over bowls. It’s hard to understand and so mystifying that I usually skip it or just skim through it.

Lew: I was the same way Mr. Sellers. After studying how God uses symbolism to get across His ideas to the finite mind of man and then reading it over and over again, I was able to dig down to the basics of what He wanted to warn us about.

JK: Well, come on, give.

Lew: I won’t be able to give you that in just one sitting, Mr. Sellers. Just the outline I have will take at least an hour to explain in this interview.

JK: Can you send it to me then? I’d really like to see it.

Lew: Sure. I can mail you a copy of it as soon as I get home. It’s kind of messy though. With notes and scriptures written all over it.

JK: That’s fine. Whatever helps to understand the visions that John saw. I would be grateful.

Lew: I’m glad we can help.

Elly: Yes, thanks for having us. You are a nice young man, but we have to be going. It’s going to get dark soon and Lew’s not supposed to drive in the dark.

JK: Again, thank you for coming. I’ll be looking forward to that outline Lew.

Elly: I’ll send something along too. A surprise.

JK: Thank you both for being here and sharing with us a little about yourselves.

JK Sellers

P.S. You can get Lew's outline of the Book of Revelation when you sign up for the free THEE Newsletter. You will find it in Volume 3 of the Newsletter. The link to the Email Archive is at the bottom of each Newsletter.

An Interview with Professor Stephen Ben-Yosef

Today I am visiting with Professor Stephen Ben-Yosef from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

“Thank you for inviting me to your office, Professor.” His office is spacious, filled with packed bookshelves and crowded curio cases.

“Thank you, Mr. Sellers,” replied Ben-Yosef. “I’m glad to have you here.”

I sat back in the comfortable guest chair, marveling at all the artifacts in the curio cases. There were pieced together ornate vases, clay figurines and seals, stone implements, and several ancient coins. I’ll ask about them after the interview, I thought to myself. First business, then pleasure. Ben-Yosef’s office was bright with the scent of old books and an earthy smell of pottery.

"To begin, why don’t you tell us about yourself,” I asked.

“Well, I am married to a beautiful wife, Chaya. We have three children: Sharon 17, Simon 19, and Elik 21. Simon and Elik are currently in the military. I think Simon will make a career of it,” he said pointing to the framed picture of his family on the desk. With his chin he nodded to several diplomas and awards on his office wall, “I received my MA and PhD here at Hebrew University. As you can see,” he said waving at the glass cases, “my main interests are the Bronze and Early Iron Age of Biblical Archaeology and Anthropology, more specifically, the Second Temple Period.” Then he added, “I am a practicing Jew and my family attends Shabbat services most weeks. Not as regular as I’d like,” he said, a corner of his mount lifting up.

“What got you interested into Archaeology?” I asked, nodding at his collection of artifacts.

“Believe it or not,” Ben-Yosef said with an ironic smile, “it was after watching Raiders of the Lost Ark. I was just a kid then. I wanted to be just like Indiana Jones, I even have his hat,” he said pointing at the sweat stained fedora hanging by the door. “As a kid I dreamt of going on adventures and finding the lost Ark of the Covenant.” Then he added, “I haven’t found it yet, but I have a good idea where it’s at.”

“Oh really. Can you tell me?”

With a mischievous smile he laughed. “No, you’ll have to wait until Book II.”

I nodded and thought, right, we can’t give everything away too soon.

“There is a big controversy on the exact location of the Jerusalem Temple,” I said. “Where do you think it is?”

Ben-Yosef thought for a moment, pondering. He then reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a large piece of paper and spread it between us on the desk. I recognized it immediately as an aerial photograph of the Temple Mount.

“It would take volumes to answer that question,” he said looking at one of his many bookshelves, “and it actually has. Here, let me try and break it down. First, there are several competing theories on the location of Solomon’s Temple.” He paused again and picked up a pencil to use as a pointer. “Let’s begin, shall we, with the most southern first, then I’ll mention the theories moving northward. First, writer and Biblical investigator, Robert Cornuke, believes that the Temple resided in the City of David near the Gihon Springs here,” he said tapping a spot near the bottom of the photo with the eraser, “which is south of the Temple Mount.” Then he moved his ‘pointer’ near a small dome on the Temple Mount, “Norma Robertson, teacher and graphic designer, places the Temple where the Al-Aqsa Mosque is located today.” He next indicated a spot just north of the last one, “Architect, Tuvia Sagiv, postulates that the Temple was south of the Dome of the Rock over the El Kas Fountain.” Ben-Yosef then tapped his pencil on the golden dome that dominated the Temple Mount, “the traditional and most popular Temple location theory is that it sat over where the Dome of the Rock is now located,” he said looking up. “The biggest proponent is Dr. Leen Ritmeyer, an archaeological architect, who has devoted many years defending this theory and compiling evidence to prove this theory. And last but not least,” Ben-Yosef said, “we have Physicist, Dr. Asher Kaufman , who proposes that the Temple stood north of the Dome of Rock, over where the present Dome of the Tablets sits.” He now indicated a spot just north of the Dome of the Rock.

“So, which theory do you support?”

“I support Dr. Kaufman’s theory,” he said matter-of-factly. “I believe that the flat bedrock that lies under the Dome of the Tablets is where the Ark of the Covenant once sat in the Temple’s Holy of Holies.

“Why do you believe that it was under the Dome of the Tablets rather than the Dome of the Rock?” I asked. “As you just stated, isn’t that where most biblical archaeologists and experts contend it was located?”

Ben-Yosef leaned back smiling, “you know why very well, Mr. Sellers. You did write about it in your book.”

“Okay,” I said, smiling back. “Did you believe in Dr. Kaufman’s theory before your big discovery?”

“Yes. In fact, I did. I have leaned toward the most northern location for many years.”

“Can you tell us why?”

“Of course. For one, the rock-mass under the Dome of the Rock is too rough and uneven to be the threshing floor where the Ark resided. A threshing floor that was used for generations would be worn, flat and smooth. Just like the bedrock found under the Dome of the Tablets. Here, compare these two photos and you can judge for yourself.” Ben-Yosef then handed me two pictures to examine. He was right. The rock under the Dome of the rock was very uneven while the other was flat and looked almost polished.

Left, Dome of the Rock. Right Dome of the Tablets.

“Then there is the orientation of the Temple itself,” he said, taking another picture from the drawer. It showed the Temple Mount as it must have looked at the time of Christ, the Second Temple period. “The Temple was placed on Mount Moriah over the threshing floor of Araunah, facing east. If you stood at the temple outer doors and faced east, you would be able to see the city gate in line with a bridge that pointed toward the peak of Mount of Olives where a very important sacrifice was held, the sacrifice and burning of the Red Heifer. The reason for this was that during the ceremony, the High Priest was required to see through the huge, ornate, open doors of the Temple, into the interior of the temple and see the curtains, behind which was the Holy of Holies and the Ark of the Covenant.” Ben-Yosef, using his pencil ‘pointer’, drew an imaginary line between the Temple, through the Golden Gate, following the bridge, then up to the peak of the Mount of Olives.

Second Temple axis lines up with the Golden Gate, Red Heifer bridge and altar.

“Now if you look at the present Temple Mount, the only location that intersects with this imaginary line is the Dome of the Tablets. The Dome of the Rock is over 100 meters too far south to be in this alignment, let alone the other theorized locations.”

“Yes, I see. Is there other evidence that you could share with us?” I asked.

“Dr. Kaufman’s research included historical and ancient literary sources, images on coins and glass fragments as well as his own surreptitious survey of masonry formations that he found on the Temple Mount. This evidence remained after the destruction of 70 AD and survived the subsequent reconstruction by the Byzantine and Muslim Empires. He lays it all out in his book, The Temple Mount: Where is the Holy of Holies.” Ben-Yosef pointed to a book with a red cover on his bookshelf.

“Just think about the name of this small dome sitting alone on the Temple’s platform,” Ben-Yosef said, leaning back in his chair. “The origin of the name for the Dome of Tablets is forgotten in history. Many believe it was so named to honor the residing place of the Ark which held the stone tables of Moses.”

I nodded. “That makes sense. Because of your discovery, we now know without any doubt where the Temple once stood. What is keeping you from building the Temple?”

“That is a very controversial subject among Jewish scholars,” Ben-Yosef explained. “One side, led the Nascent Sanhedrin and the Temple Institute , favor the construction of the Third Temple in the very near future, while others believe that we should wait because the Messiah will build the Temple when he comes.”

“Has there been any progress toward that goal?” I asked.

“Well, the Sanhedrin and the Temple Institute have gone a long way to prepare for that day. The Sanhedrin has chosen a High Priest, a well-known and humble Rabbi and they have been busy training the many priests that will be needed to perform the important daily rituals in the Temple.”

“For many years,” Ben-Yosef continued. “The Temple Institute has been building the accouterments needed to furnish the Temple. They have built over 90 ritual items that will be used in the various Temple rites––from priests clothing, to the gold and silver shofars, to the altar where sacrifices are to be made. They have even raised a herd of red cattle from which one will be chosen to use in the Red Heifer ceremony.”

“What obstacles do you face, besides the Islamic Waqf who control the Temple Mount today?”

“The resolve of the Jewish people and their politicians,” said Ben-Yosef without hesitation. “You have to realize that most of the Jews and their leaders are secular and non-religious. They may celebrate the High Holy Days, less than half have a serious belief in God. Most would oppose the blood sacrifice of animals in today’s modern society, even though they eat meat at almost every meal and look the other way at the slaughter of thousands of animals each year during the pilgrimage to Mecca.”

“Just the other day I witnessed a reenactment of a Temple ceremonies performed under the direction of the Sanhedrin and the Temple Movement, for the training of those who are from the priestly class known as Kohanim. They are trained in special schools on the duties of the priests, the use of ritual vessels created for use in the Third Temple, and even practice on a newly constructed altar of burnt offering.”

“So it seems that all is ready to begin construction.”

“Yes, it is. Now, we need a change of heart by the Jewish people here and around the world. I believe the increasing persecutions we see today will drive more secular Jews to their knees in prayer and into their synagogues. We need the blessings that obedience to the Laws, set forth by Moses, will bring. The world needs those blessings. They will only come when God’s people return to worship and have faith in the Lord.”

“Imagine if we could build the Third Temple what it would mean to the five million or more faithful, practicing Jews around the world. They would all want to make the trek to the Holy Land during Passover to celebrate the Passover Seder with real roast lamb. Millions would crowd Jerusalem for the chance to partake of Passover here in the land God gave their forefathers.”

“After the Temple is completed then, if we are worthy, the Lord’s Presence, His Shekinah, will once again dwell in His House and bless and guide the nation of Israel.” “What is the Shekinah?”

"King Solomon praying before the Temple" by painter Giuseppe Bonito, c. 1750.

“It is the Glory of the Lord, His presence. When Solomon dedicated the First Temple it filled His Temple and remained there, performing miracles, until the Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians. When the Temple was rebuilt a second time it returned, albeit not as powerful as before. It remained in His House for centuries. His Shekinah visible left the Temple forty years before the Romans destroy it in 70 AD. My hope is that the Lord’s presence will return again once His House is rebuilt.”

In my mind I made the calculation of what occurred forty years prior the destruction of Jerusalem and left it unsaid, nodding.

“Your actions in The Half Hour of Silence, will be a huge help in the building of the Third Temple,” I said. “One last question, what is your greatest wish for your country?”

“That my people can live in peace and harmony with our Arab neighbors. That our two people, united in our common blood and ancestors, can one day become reconciled in this land we all call holy.” “Amen,” I said. I contemplated what the Bible prophesied what must come before the ‘peace and harmony’ could come and the blood that will be shed prior to that great event. The appearance of Ben-Yosef’s Messiah on the Mount of Olives, the second coming of Jesus Christ.

“Thank you, Professor,” I said in a somber tone. Brightening up I continued, “thank you so much for giving me and my readers time from your busy day. What with all the events of Book I and II you must be very busy.”

“Not at all Mr. Sellers, Ben-Yosef said with a bright smile. “The pleasure is mine.”

An Interview with Quinton Morfran, Deputy Secretary-General of the UN.

Today I have traveled to New York City to interview one of the true villains of my book, Half Hour of Silence. I am visiting with Quinton Morfran, the Deputy Secretary-General of the UN. In my book I expose his true role in international politics and his plan to enslave the world.

My Uber drive from JFK International was quiet and uneventful. She dropped me off at the address Morfran had sent me. All I knew was that his office was on the top floor, or rather it was the top floor of one of the skyscrapers that ringed Central Park. A tall glass temple to the worship of money and global power at which New York City was the center. After getting out of the car I tipped my driver for not getting me killed in the horrendous traffic. Curious, I craned my neck trying to get a glimpse of the Park Avenue office. I could imagine the penthouse dwellers looking down into the glass and concrete canyons of the city curiously watching the insignificant drones scurrying about their feet.

The security guard directed me to the private elevator that only Morfran and his visitors used. I felt nervous knowing the caliber of the man whom I was about to meet. Joseph Stalin would be in good company with Quinton Morfran.

After a short anxious wait, Morfran’s personal secretary showed me into his office. The office is was big as my house, wall to wall luxurious carpet, sculptures filled glass cases and well-known artists’ work adorned the high walls.

Quinton Morfran stood from his desk and offered a hand in greeting.

“Good Morning Mr. Morfran,” I said, shaking his hand. “I would like to thank for giving me a few minutes of you time.” I said, barely keeping the tremor out of my voice.

Morfran indicated a stuffed leather chair near his desk. “Not all Mr. Sellers,” he replied in a pleasant tone, sitting easily in his plush, high-backed chair. “I am happy to speak with you and straighten out a few things.”

“Oh, really. What would you like to clarify?” I said, my nerves easing, being replaced by a piqued interest.

“Some of the wild accusations you make about me in your book,” Morfran replied matter of factly, waving a manicured hand in my direction, his smile fading.

Ah, I thought. He must have read the advanced reading copy I sent him. This will certainly be an interesting conversation.

“Which one?" I asked mater of factly. "That you are a member of a secret organization to take over the world or the one where you have sold your soul to Lucifer?”

“Come now Mr. Sellers,” Morfran said with a deep chuckle. “We live in a world of trans-modernism. We have gone far beyond the fables of the dark ages. There is no dark lord lurking in the shadows to swallow up your soul. Satan, as well as God, are simple myths created by cave dwellers seeking comfort from the unknown,” he said leaning back in his plush chair. “In this age of trans-modernism, we have evolved into thinking human beings. Our society has grown from tribes attacking each other with stone tipped arrows to peaceful open societies, interconnected by trade and commerce.”

“So, there are no Mustirmahani plotting the takeover of the world?” I asked.

Morfran’s smile grew to a lopsided grin. “I know nothing about a secret organization, Mr. Sellers. All my life I have worked toward the goal of a world without borders, a world without war and strife, a world where we can all live in peaceful coexistence. I dream of a world where there is no need for armies, navies, or nuclear tipped missiles. Don’t you want to live in such a world, Mr. Sellers?”

“Of course I do,” I said. “I want peace and safety. But I am also a realist. There are evil men in the world who want to take what we have and to destroy what we most crave, our freedoms. You need a strong military to keep them at bay. Once a country becomes weak, you become the prey for the predators of the world.”

“They don’t want to destroy your freedoms,” Morfran countered in a condescending tone. “They simple want to stop the United States from interfering in their countries’ affairs. Look, what if you could control the predators. Most of them are reacting to our meddling in their internal affair. Besides, they are only fighting for social and economic justice. Once we reach equality by removing disparity, prejudice, and discrimination among the classes, we will eliminate the greed and jealousy you speak of. They will have access to anything they would want.”

“How do you do that?” I said surprised at the direction the conversation was going.

“Why, simple to enact laws that will ensure social and economic justice. Level the playing field. Improve education. It may take a few decades to adjust and we may have to temporarily restrict a few freedoms but if we keep a close eye on the citizens to make sure they aren’t breaking the law, eventually everyone would see the benefits and cooperate. The final reward would be a peaceful world all would enjoy.”

“How are you going to control 8 billion people?” I asked, my voice dripping with skepticism.

“You would be surprised of the technology that is at our very doorstep. Soon we will free ourselves from the outdated system of currency, paper, checks and even credit cards and be able to, with the wave of the hand, make purchases, transfer money to a bank or even to a relative, sell merchandise or services, etc. Just think of the many ways we could save time with a tiny data chip in our hand. Open locked doors, start your car, open a secure website, unlock a computer. Imagine, no more wasted time looking for lost keys or setting new passwords that we’ll just forget again. In a few short years from now we’ll all have our phones implanted in our heads. Our eyes will be the camera, our ears the speakers and our jaw the microphone. If we have children with these implants there would be no more kidnappings, children getting lost or runaways living on the street. Just think about it, we can have a bright, brave new world.”

“Yeah I know,” I said sarcastically. “There was a book written about just such a society. How are you going to stop terrorists or criminal from killing and perpetrating crimes on your mythical ‘peaceful society’?”

“Again, we’ll rely on the newest technology. Police departments will have the most advanced technology available. Today there are departments experimenting with predictive policing tools that will stop crimes even before they happen. Algorithms can analyze the data we collect to minimize or even eliminate crime in our lifetime.”

“You mean like in the movie Minority Report?” I replied in amazement.

Morfran laughed. “No, we won’t have precogs soaking in milk baths. Data collected from police reports, social media, phone and text records, emails and recordings from the intelligent virtual assistants in every home will be searching for words or phrases. All this data will be analyzed by algorithms. If we find someone who has a high probability to, say abuse a child or spouse, we can send a neighborhood representative to his home and interview the person, establish his mental state, and if found wanting, he or she could be asked to visit an education center or clinic to receive the necessary training.”

“What if he doesn’t want to participate voluntarily?”

“Oh he will!” Morfran said, his eyes brightening up. “If not, his social credit score would go up and he or she would lose privileges.”

“What in the world is a ‘social credit score’?” I asked dumbfounded.

“The SCS is just another tool we will use to train the populace that integration into our new society would be beneficial for all.”

I looked at him skeptically and shook my head slowly. Before I could say something, he continued.

“It’s like a demerit system at school,” he said excitedly. “For example, if today you repeatedly brake the law you would lose your freedom and be sent to jail. If you get enough speeding tickets you will lose your privileges to drive on public roads. That is similar to the SCS. If you habitually show up to work late, don’t pay your bills on time, have an argument with a neighbor or friend on social media, your SCS will go up.”

“Are you going to put people in jail for arguing on Facebook?!” I asked, astonished at what he was saying.

“No, of course not. What may happen is restrictions to use airlines or public transportation. Your interest rates on your credit cards and car loans could go up as a penalty. Access to social media, the internet, or even TV may be curtailed or totally eliminated. Rent, house or car payments would rise. The higher your social credit score the less privileges you will have. On the other hand, with a low score you will be rewarded with discounts, low interest rates and free internet.”

“And how will you collect all the data to get an accurate score?” I asked, dreading his answer.

“The data is already being collected,” Morfran said smiling. “Every aspect of our lives is being recorded every hour, every day of our lives. All we have to do is collect it, analyze it and then grade it.”

“What, the government is listening to everything we say and do?”

“No, not yet. But private companies have been doing that for years. Companies like Amazon, Facebook, and Google know all the basic information about you like name, address, phone number, credit card information, but they also know your purchase history, credit history, all of the information about those people, your friends' email address, personal profile and picture, financial information, including Social Security and driver's license numbers, passwords, browser history, all your login passwords, the type of videos you watch, where you are at now or in the past, calendar events, everything.”

I was too shocked to speak. I knew these things were happening, but the way he stated it gave me chills. Morfran continued almost giddy now at the prospect of knowing everything about every human being on the planet.

“Amazon and Google, through their intelligent virtual assistants like, Alexa, Siri, and Echo, are listening to everything you say in your home or around your phone, which is with you everywhere you go. Imagine how easy it would be to feed those recordings into a computer, pick out certain words, phrases, even tone of voice and analyze it with algorithms to find anything suspicious. We can add to that everything collected in social media post, text and email messages. If we pooled all this information together and analyzed it, we would be able to stop any crime before it happens, disincentivize bad behavior and create a peaceful and prosperous society of well-behaved citizens.”

“What happened to privacy and freedom of speech, or even freedom of assembly. What you are proposing is a police state! No one will go for this!”

“Nonsense,” Morfran replied, his smile growing his teeth showing. “People know all of what I’ve told you. They will say, ‘I don’t care if they listen, I’m not doing anything illegal, who cares,’” Morfran said sitting on the edge of his chair. “Only the guilty will be afraid. And that is the point isn’t it. Once they see their SCS going up and loosing privileges, then they will step in line with the rest.”

“And if they don’t want to comply with your draconian police state?”

“Then, just as we do today for criminals, they will be confined and reeducated until they can rejoin society as an obedient citizen of the world.”

“You do realize how unconstitutional all this is don’t you?”

“As I mentioned before, most of this is being done today, Mr. Sellers. It is only unconstitutional for government to do it. Google, Facebook, and Amazon have been doing it for years. These companies have already helped China establish their social credit score. Soon it will go global.”

“You may get a certain percentage of Americans to go along with your ‘Brave New World’, Morfran, but most will push back. I for one will not comply.”

“How many Americans do you think will voluntarily give up social media, the internet, cell phones and all the other modern technology that fill their homes today,” he said, his smile slowly disappearing. “Do you really think your ‘patriots’ will cut themselves off from all of the conveniences of the past fifty years? Not many, if any. If they do,” his eyes narrowed, “how will they get paid without the chip? How will they buy groceries or pay rent? No, Mr. Sellers,” Morfran said standing. “You will comply, or you will starve.” His face was now one of benevolence, a ruthless and callous grimace, staring down at me.

I shivered at the dark aura I now felt in the room. The pleasant diplomate I had interviewed had been replaced by the man I knew and wrote about. A servant of Lucifer. Morfran’s personal secretary appeared at my side as if by magic. I looked up at his pasted-on smile. Must be time to go, I thought. No problem, I can’t get out of here fast enough!

My skin crawled as I walked out of the office. As if unseen demons were escorting me out, eager for me to stay to devour my soul. The feeling didn’t leave until I reached the ground floor and a normal world surrounded me.

My mind was reeling from the experience and what I had learned. How do you fight against something like that? Something that was so desirable but at the same time confining and grotesque to those who enjoyed their freedoms. The world was literally placing the chains of slavery about our own necks!

If you want to know more what happens in the near future, read my book, Half Hour of Silence, when it comes out.