Joel Ben-Eliezar is one of the sons of Rabbi Ethan Ben-Eliezar and Mrs. Ben-Eliezar. He had a sister, Meira, who was raptured. His younger brother, Aron, was not raptured lived in Haifa while Joel had an apartment in Tel Aviv. Joel Ben-Eliezar only appeared in The Rise of False Messiahs.
Biography[]
After the Rapture[]
Joel lived in Tel Aviv, but his brother, Aron, who lived in Haifa, moved in with Joel after the Global Community attempted to assault the emigration of Jews to Masada and Petra as a result of Operation Eagle. Joel had received the mark of loyalty on his forehead, partly in order to provide food for his brother, but he did not worship the image of Carpathia. Joel regretted taking the mark of loyalty soon after. It is unknown whether he took the mark after the first Bowl Judgment had been lifted or whether had suffered from the plague of the boils since he did not worship the image (according to Aron).
After the computer center in Petra had been set up, Sam Goldberg tried to contact the Ben-Eliezar brothers because their parents wanted to reassure their sons that they were fine. Sam received an e-mail from Aron Eliezar requesting that Sam would met them in person in Tel Aviv. After arriving a specified location in a public park, after sunset, Sam and Mitchell Stein found a beeping walkie-talkie on a mound hidden by some foliage. A scratchy voice emanating from the walkie-talkie instructed them to go to an apartment. When they arrived, Joel opened the door and invited them in. Joel had a bandage on his forehead, but no visible mark of loyalty on his right hand.
Joel first asked them about his parents. Mr. Stein proceeded to tell Joel about how he had met their parents who had converted to Christianity when they became convinced that Jesus fulfilled the messianic prophecies. Their parents were at Petra due to the success of Operation Eagle. When Joel heard that part about his parents accepting Jesus, he shook his head and said that is the part that he cannot accept.
Joel is effectively an atheist. In response to Mr. Stein saying that he and Sam Goldberg visited their home at great personal risk, Joel said that he had no need to believe in God because there is a scientific explanation for everything. Sam interjected by bringing up the disappearances and the earthquake (it is unknown if Sam is referring to the Jerusalem earthquake after Eli and Moishe's resurrection or the Wrath Of The Lamb). Joel said that people believe in God because they are told to and they have an emotional attachment to their faith. Instead of faith, Joel relies on himself and hard work to deal with crises and natural disasters. Mr. Stein added that individual's efforts often strive for the wind and that eventually Joel would die. Joel frankly says that death is an oblivion and final, thus, one should avail themselves to think independently and struggle to improve the world. Mr. Stein brings up the people who have been martyred for their faith by refusing to take the mark of loyalty, but Joel reiterates that he has no use for faith except in himself to make the world better.
After that exchange, Aron entered the apartment to announce that Orcus' show was about to begin. A stage with lights, lasers, and blaring music along with a gigantic big screen monitor had been set up a block from the public park that Aron told them to go to. As Sam and Mr. Stein were going to the park, they saw a poster that advertised the "miraculous power of Orcus". After Aron arrived, Joel grabbed binoculars to watch the show, while Sam and Mr. Stein went into a bedroom to have a discussion with Aron.
Joel shouted from the other room for Mr. Stein, Sam, and Aron to see the spectacle of Orcus as there was a sword fight on stage. During the sword fight, one duelist chopped off the right arm the other, and the injured man immediately dropped to his knees and tried to stop the mortal flow of blood. Orcus then appeared and reattached the man's arm "under the authority of the risen lord, Nicolae Carpathia". Sam and Aron were incredulous at what just happened, believing it was a trick, but Mr. Stein said that it happened by real power, not of God but from the power of the evil one. Joel mockingly retorted that the reattachment happened through "Bible hocus pocus".
After Orcus healed that man's arm, the image of Carpathia started to billow smoke and everyone there prostrated themselves before it. Muffled praise arose from the crowd as some sang Hail Carpathia. Orcus gestured to the crowd to become silent, assuring them that their praise of Nicolae has been heard, and then Orcus made a bright flash of light illuminate the audience. It did not come from backstage where all the lights and lasers are, but from overhead, illuminating the area as if it were daytime. Joel rubbed his eyes so hard that the bandage feel off, revealing the mark of loyalty. He said that he tried to rub the mark off with sandpaper and cut the skin, but Joel was starting to become convinced that Orcus can do these things by the power of Nicolae Carpathia.
The other three walked out of the room, while Joel stayed and watched. Mr. Stein impelled Aron to accept Christ. Joel then shouted again for them to join him in watching Orcus.
They saw Orcus transform the swords from the two swordsmen into doves to say that Nicolae had come to bring peace. Orcus then turned to doves into snakes in order to make a point that there are those among them who are like snakes who want the people of the world to fight amongst themselves. Orcus said that Nicolae has helped identify those snakes as those who do not bear his mark of loyalty while also asking if there is anyone among the audience who did not have the mark.
Someone descried a Jewish women without the mark of loyalty, and the crowd surrounded her in a semicircle. Orcus raised the snakes in his hand that they transformed back to swords and furiously confronted her on why she did not have the mark of loyalty, and she responded that she cannot show loyalty to a man who kills her own people. Orcus swung both swords at her and killed her. Orcus said that the Jews and Judah-ites are enemies of world peace and implored the audience to report anyone that they know who does not have the mark of loyalty. He said that those who know someone without the mark — whether they are friends, strangers, or family — are just as guilty.
Joel was captivated by the performance that he immediately abandoned his skepticism. He said that he thought he made a mistake by taking Carpathia's mark, but Orcus' performance vindicated him. He took the message of Orcus to heart, urging Aron to take the mark of loyalty immediately. When Aron said that he had enough of Orcus and expressed interest in the message of Sam Goldberg and Mitchell Stein, he became dismayed that Aron would be following those "wackos". He then reported Sam and Mr. Stein to the Global Community. As they were urging Aron to receive Christ, Global Community peacekeepers came to the apartment to detain Mr. Stein, Sam, and Aron.
Aron became a believer anyway after he was taken away by the Global Community to be processed to be sent to a concentration camp for Jews where they would be subject to inhumane conditions as opposed to being expediently executed with the guillotine. Aron along with Sam and Mr. Stein later escaped before being shipped to the camp due to intervention by an angel. When Aron arrived in Petra, Aron and Joel's parents embraced Aron and rejoiced that Aron was saved even though Joel had been caught up in the desire to follow Carpathia.
It is unknown how Joel died.
Personality[]
Joel has brotherly attachment to his brother, Aron. Joel made the decision to take the mark of loyalty, in part to provide Aron with food, since one cannot buy or sell anything without the mark of loyalty. However, this motivation for taking the mark of loyalty is not morally redeeming, since it in no way mitigates the culpability of Joel for taking it (in the eyes of Mitchell Stein), even if he did demonstrate some signs of repentance, such as his attempts to remove it by cutting his skin and rubbing off the mark with sandpaper. Regarding one's status of salvation, the only relevant factors is one's acceptance of Jesus and that one did not take the mark voluntarily. Mitchell Stein, when discussing this issue with Aron, said that Joel made a foolish decision that he would regret for all eternity. Mr. Stein tries to point out that Joel seemed upset when he and Sam Goldberg were discussing his parents and their conversion to Christianity with him and that Joel countered their message at every point. Mr. Stein tried to portrayed Joel as being closed to the truth, but Aron replied that he was just as closed while he fortuitously did not receive the mark of loyalty. Lastly, Joel turned Sam and Mr. Stein in to the Global Community. Nevertheless, those reasons that Mr. Stein brought up to denigrate Joel's character seem irrelevant because Joel had voluntarily took the mark of loyalty, and regardless of his good deeds and character, he is a person whose status as a sinner makes him irredeemable without him accepting the grace of God, which is closed off to him since he took the mark of loyalty.
Appearances[]
- 35. The Rise of False Messiahs (only appearance)
Trivia[]
- Joel was the only member of the Ben-Eliezar family to not become a believer.