This podcast is a companion supplement discussing spiritual lessons from Chapter 6 of my Christian end-times thriller, entitled Birth Pangs of the End Times.
To receive the most benefit from this podcast, please read chapter 6 before listening. You can read it free at www.thomasnoss.com, or you can buy Birth Pangs of the End Times on Amazon.
Here’s A Brief Summary of Chapter 6
The Setting
On an annual Day of Atonement, early in the 20th century, the Almighty convened his heavenly council.
In my fictional representation of God’s heavenly council, God the Father and the 24 elders are seated around a U-shaped table, with God at the center and 12 elders to his left and 12 to his right.
Standing before the Father, in the center of the U, are Jesus and Satan.
A scribe sits near them at a table with three boxes on it. Each box has a light on it. The first box shines red. The second box shines white. And the third box’s light is not yet illuminated.
Around them are a myriad of God’s angels, all watching the proceedings expectantly.
The Council’s Proceedings
The fate of 57 million people who died that year are sorted into one of the three boxes. I’ll be using rounded numbers to simplify this discussion.
1. Out of 57 million, Satan has a list of over 37 million who never had a relationship with Jesus. The council agrees for them to go into the first box, making its red light glow brighter.
2. Next, the Devil produces a list of 15 million that claim to have some connection to Jesus. They fall into two categories.
10 million made a lip service confession of faith, but their lifestyle never showed any evidence of true faith.
The Devil said another 5 million were ‘Jesus-plus’ believers, who partly believed in Jesus, but also depended on their own good works, or their church affiliation, for their forgiveness.
Jesus agreed concerning these 15 million, except for 2000 people who found true faith before they died. As a result, out of these 15 million, all but 2000 went into the box with the red light. The 2000 went into the box with the white light.
3. The remaining 5 million are true believers, so they’ll be put into the second or third boxes.
Almost all of them go into the second box, making the white light brighter
The final 19000 are disciples who suffered martyrdom for their faith. These go into the third box. But this light doesn’t come on.
4. Finally in chapter 6, because we’re approaching the end of the age—it’s been almost 6000 years since Adam—God removes Satan’s restriction against deceiving the nations. However, God places the following boundaries on Satan’s activities:
Satan may not kill more than half the earth’s population
He must continue to work through humans, using human authority, because God gave Adam the authority to rule over the earth.
Finally, at the end of chapter 6 Satan convenes his angels for a planning meeting.
Spiritual Lessons in Chapter 6
1. God’s Council in Heaven
The Bible teaches that God has a council, or court, in heaven. For anyone who wants to learn more about it, I recommend the late Dr. Michael Heiser’s website, https://www.thedivinecouncil.com.
The scenes in Job 1 and 2 are well-known examples of God’s council.
Revelation 4 is a picture of God’s throne room, with his 24 elders.
Accuser vs Advocate
1 John 2:1 Jesus is our advocate with the Father
This chapter is a spatial dramatization of spiritual truths
2. Yom Kippur – the Day of Atonement
Annual day of Israel’s national judgement and salvation – Leviticus 23
Passover is about personal and family salvation
Tabernacles is about the salvation of all nations
3. In chapter 6, all the dead from the previous year are sorted into three boxes
Some may wonder why the ‘Jesus-plus’ believers got put into the first box with the unbelievers.
Other than believe and receive, there’s no work that we can do to earn our salvation.
We don’t have a personal covenant with God, and your acceptance by God isn’t related to anything you do or don’t do—except to believe.
By faith, we become a partaker in the “everlasting covenant” that’s between God the Father and God the Son.
This covenant is sealed in Christ’s blood, and it’s forever settled in heaven.
You can read about the everlasting covenant at: https://standinfaith.org/old-covenant-vs-new-covenant/
Your good works won’t determine our salvation, but they will determine your eternal rewards. I think of these like the medals that a soldier earns in battle:
1 Cor 15:41-42, There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differs from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead.
In other words, for all eternity each saint will shine with the brightness he’s earned during this life. The brighter the star, the more glory and respect he will have earned.
1Co 3:9-15, For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
Paul likens our lives to a building. Jesus is the foundation, and believers all build on him. But what kind of building you build will be tested by fire. Will your building survive?
4. The third box includes holy Christian martyrs
Rev 6:11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.
Rev 12:1-11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
5. Why will the 3rd box cause Satan’s downfall?
I’ll explain this in the Chap 16 podcast, when Satan is cast down.
The heavenly conflict between God and Satan that started before the first day of creation in Genesis, in a previous age. To learn about this now, read the Overcomers Treasure Map at https://standinfaith.org/spiritual-warfare
6. In chapter 6, God Releases Satan to Deceive the Nations
Revelation 20:3 says the Devil gets seized and bound for 1000 years, so that he can’t deceive the nations. After the thousand years ends, he must be released a little while.
Most people think Satan’s binding happens in the future, after Armageddon, and then he’s released at the end of the millennium.
But I believe he was bound at the cross in the first century, and he was released after WW2 to deceive the nations at the end of this age. I also believe the Gog/Magog references in Rev 20:8 and Ezekiel 38 are the same event. They’re the final battle we call the Battle of Armageddon.
The term for thousand simply means a long time. It isn’t necessarily a literal thousand years.
Here are some of the signs of Satan’s deceiving the nations:
The United Nations and their humanistic global programs, such as ‘Agenda 2030’
World Economic Forum and their global ‘Great Reset’ by 2030
Global controls over economics, media, and religions
Global perversions and ridiculous delusions, such as men chest-feeding babies, gender confusion, and government-sponsored Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs.
Paperback Book Launch
Before concluding this week’s podcast, here’s an update about the paperback version’s status.
This week I reviewed the paperback proof copy and made a number of minor changes for typos, image sizing, etc. I also added two scenes based on feedback from an award-winning author friend.
I’ve resubmitted the updated manuscript and I’ll receive a new proof copy on Monday, January 20th. Assuming there are no problems, I’ll push the publish button early next week.
Until next week, may God’s kingdom come, and his will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Links:
Buy Birth Pangs of the End Times
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