The 69th Week — Larry Richards

According to the Blind Prophet, the end of the Invisible War is drawing near. The demon Myrdebaal, assigned by Satan to search the Scriptures for clues as to how the war between the Dark Lord and the Creator will end, has found evidence that the Creator's plan hinges on the appearance of a Messiah during the 'seventieth week' prophecy. In the Old Testament book of Daniel, apparently each 'week' is actually a block of seven years. In Larry Richards's fourth novel, The 69th Week, demons on a tight time schedule infest the Holy Land, searching for possible candidates. Their plan is to intercept this Messiah before he can defeat them. In the human realm, a group of builders from Nazareth, a backwater town in the disparaged province of Galilee, find themselves drawn to different sides of a growing conflict. Brothers Simeon and Shm'ul and their neighbor Yeshua discover they all have critical roles to play in The 69th Week. Simeon is intent on going to Jerusalem to reclaim a heritage abandoned by their father, Yakov. Shm'ul won't abandon his family. Neither has any idea that their friend and neighbor, Yeshua, is anything other than an ordinary Jew of Galilee. But years later when that neighbor begins to preach and perform miracles, Simeon--now a rabbi and confidant of the High Priest--is sent to investigate the trouble.

Enemies collide when Satan discovers that no demon is able to attack this Yeshua, and he determines to manipulate the Jewish leaders into killing Yeshua before the decisive seventieth week begins. When Simeon is humiliated in an honor contest with Yeshua, his hostility provides Myrdebaal with the opportunity he and Satan have been seeking.