Cyrus Spivey is the father of Ty Spivey and Tanya Spivey, and the leader of Cyrus's Mountain Militia. Cyrus hid with his group for at least three years in a cave. When Vicki Byrne arrived at the cave to try to help Tanya, Cyrus' violent and controlling personality came to light. In the dramatic audio presentation, he is a minor antagonist in volume 5 and 6.
Biography[]
Before the Rapture[]
Cyrus owned a shop that sold guns, ammunition, and old military equipment where much of the business was conducted through the Internet. Cyrus also wrote a few books that outlined his perspective on Biblical prophecy. He also had his cave constructed years before the disappearances. Several families subscribed to Cyrus' views, and they followed him to the point that they were dwelling in a cave to ride out Armageddon and emerge once it is over. According to Tanya, Cyrus believed that a "holocaust" was coming.
Before a couple of days before the Rapture, Cyrus told his wife not to talk to her children but to write a letter to her children. His wife had been listening to a Christian ministry on the radio.
After the Rapture[]
After the Rapture, Cyrus woke up and only found his wife's wedding ring and nightgown on the bed. Even though his wife disagreed with him on subjects concerning religion, Cyrus was sure that his wife is in heaven and that there was not a better woman in the world than her. However, since Cyrus did not appreciate the Christian doctrine of grace, he enjoined his children to do good deeds so they can be together in heaven.
His daughter, Tanya Spivey, reached out to the Young Tribulation Force by locating Colin Dial's house where the Young Tribulation Force was saying. Tanya ventured out because she was tired of the monotonous food, the coldness, dirt floors, and snakes of the cave. Tanya described her situation to Vicki Byrne and outlined her father's eschatological views which were superficially concordant to the protagonists perspective such as Carpathia being the dragon of Revelation. Since Vicki could not see the seal of God on Tanya's forehead, she was flummoxed and her initial impression was that her father was a bona fide believer while Tanya, for whatever reason, resisted the prophetic and soteriological message of the Bible. Tanya added that her dad "had the code worked out from his study of the numbers in the Bible".
Tanya Spivey brought Vicki Byrne into their hideout. Cyrus intended to force Vicki to stay with the group since Cyrus made a rule that anyone who comes to the group's living space must stay until Armageddon. Cyrus ascribes some credence in the Christian scripture, particularly the Book of Revelation, but he does not have faith that Jesus' sacrifice is the means to salvation. He does not subscribe to Tsion Ben-Judah's prophetic teaching, but he does believe that Nicolae Carpathia is the anti-Christ and that the Global Community will be defeated in the Battle of Armageddon. He does think that 144,000 faithful individuals would be saved and that his group would be among them, while the series portrays that 144,000 as Jewish evangelists who facilitate a Great Multitude to come to faith during the Tribulation. Based on reports he heard from the radio, Cyrus thought that Petra was obliterated in the Global Community attack (as opposed to it being supernaturally protected) and that it was a sign that Armageddon at most a month away. According to the timetable of the Left Behind series, the Battle of Armageddon would be more than three years away since the seven-year countdown started when Nicolae Carpathia signed a historic peace agreement with Israel. Vicki would naturally object because she disagreed with Cyrus' conclusion that Armageddon was weeks away and that she did not want to be confined with Cyrus' Mountain Militia for years.
Cyrus' group lived in a cave and ate canned food which was stored in crates. Occasionally, they ate some wild game, such as a deer which a hunting party brought back to the group while Vicki was brought to the group. The group had been in the cave for about three years since there was a section in the cave where the Wrath of the Lamb earthquake had covered an entire family.
Personality[]
Cyrus is short and rotund with pudgy fingers and long sideburns.
In the Dramatic Audio, Vicki Byrne describes him as a militia wacko who uses the Bible as some crazy code book. He is not a believer and does not have the seal of God, but rather he knows some "Christianese" such as the Battle of Armageddon and that Nicolae Carpathia is the dragon of Revelation.
According to his daughter, Tanya, Cyrus believes that Jesus is a great prophet who was going to set up his kingdom on earth. This plan was thwarted when Jesus died, but God left that job to those living after Jesus. Tanya says Cyrus believes that Jesus did came back from the dead, but Jesus was not resurrected (anastasis/ανάσταση) but Jesus would come back in heaven or as an angel since Jesus performed more good deeds than bad. Those who do bad things would be reincarnated as a plant or some non-human animal; Tanya says that although she tries hard to be good, she is scared of coming back as a goat or lilac. Vicki tries to confute this by citing Hebrews 9:27 that says that people die once and would then be judged.
He is paternalistic towards Tanya, constantly reminding his group the potential punishment in Tanya disobeys. He once mentioned that in the Old Testament that children are stoned to death if they talked back to their parents when he claimed that Vicki was now under their roof. Cyrus' teaching also emphasizes God's punishment of the wicked, and he mentioned that God is jealous and angry at people's sins. Armageddon is God's way to destroy the wicked and rectify the world, leaving on the righteous 144,000, which Cyrus' Mountain Militia would be members of, to inhabit the world and build the kingdom of God. Vicki objected by quoting Ezekiel 33:11 that states that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but rather have the them repent and live. Vicki also emphasized that God, in the person of Jesus, loves people enough to die for them. Vicki referenced the parable of the prodigal son to demonstrate God's propensity to forgive and the type of love God has for people.
Cyrus is revered among his group, like Tsion-Ben Judah is among the Christians living in the Tribulation, often being referred to as "Prophet Cy". He was able to command obedience from the group as he will harshly punish any transgression and dissent. Tayna stood up to her father. When his daughter Tanya supported Vicki Byrne's doctrines about salvation, Cyrus locked Tanya and Vicki in a darkened room.
Cyrus controls the Mountain Militia's access to media. Tanya said that she did not watch television for three years and that Cyrus only brought out the radio a few times. The group's knowledge of current events is filtered through Cyrus as Cyrus listens to the radio and tells the group developments that he regards as important. While seven members of the Cyrus' Mountain Militia (not including Tanya) escaped and were at Colin Dial's house, Vicki tuned in GCNN and caught a trailer of Lars Rahlmost's documentary From Death to Life that included footage of Carpathia's resurrection. The group in the cave where stunned since they have not heard of Carpathia's resurrection. It is not know what Cyrus interpreted the news about the death and resurrection of Nicolae Carpathia since he did not report it to the group. For instance, Cyrus could believe that the reports of Carpathia's death were false, or that he believed that he died and was resurrected (as what really happened in the storyline) but did not report it to the group since he thought it might undermine his authority as he might think that some in the group might regard Carpathia as divine based on that news.
When Cyrus' Mountain Militia was eating a communal meal, Ty Spivey pointed out that ever since Tanya met Vicki, Ty said that Tanya had changed for the better and that was due to what Vicki had told him. Cyrus became angry because he perceived that to be a challenge to his authority. During this confrontation, Cyrus discharged a gun at the wall. Someone from his group had a gun and pointed it at Cyrus. Cyrus grabbed his gun and fired it at him, but the weapon only produced a click, since Cyrus only loaded the guns he granted access to the members of the group only when they were hunting. Cyrus did not trust the members of his group to have weapons.
Appearances[]
- 33. Attack on Petra (first appearance)
- 34. Bounty Hunters (last appearance, death)
Mentions[]
Trivia[]
- Cyrus's first appearance is in book 33.
- Cyrus believed in a few prophecies and statements from the Bible but never became a true believer.
- Cyrus is the only named unbeliever in the series to be executed by the guillotine.
- In addition, Cyrus is the only named unbeliever to be executed by Kruno Fulcire.
- Cyrus's death was in book 34.
- Cyrus was the only member of his family to not become a believer.
- Cyrus is one of only two parents of a Young Tribulation Force member to survive up to the Great Tribulation period, the other was Mitchell Stein.